Artificial intelligence in tourism. What will become easier and faster? What is possible today

The ever-increasing needs and opportunities of mankind require simple and quick solutions to issues. The tourism industry is no exception. High demand, increasing demands for quality of services, make those who provide travel services increase the pace. Today, artificial intelligence is already closely cooperating and competing with the human factor. The winner is the one who has made AI their assistant and employee.

Just look at the data collected.

Simple conclusions based on tourism statistics

Awareness of the development of new technologies, such as AI, allows us to plan and organise our trips much better, faster, and easier today. And for companies operating in the travel industry, artificial intelligence has become a treasure trove for attracting more customers and improving the customer service process.

You can't fool the statistics:

• 74% organise a trip online (Google Travel research).
• 45% or more plan their holidays on their phones (according to TripAdvisor).
• 36% are willing to overpay for a faster and clearer booking process for all components of the holiday.
• 80% choose to search for options and analyse information on their own

Conclusion: artificial intelligence is increasingly gaining credibility and trust, saving not only time but also money.

What does holiday organisation look like with Al Assistant today?

Have you ever used chatbots? Most probably have. This is one of the ways to get a quick answer to a specific question. A well-trained chatbot can answer 40% of customer questions, taking this burden of responsibility and time off a human. And voila, you are no longer served by three different authorities, but by one trained person with a program.

The GDS system has come to the aid of travel agents, solving the issue of

• comparing the options found,
• trust in the information (written information can serve as evidence)
• booking

Now all the data obtained can be managed by one qualified specialist. Global companies such as Booking.com or Skyscanner can boast of their successes with AI-powered chatbots. A chatbot is a concrete solution to a question without the need to visit a bunch of websites, fight against ads that pop up all the time and, in fact, only confuse and prolong the search and booking process.

How can AI be an advantage in travel planning?

Artificial intelligence has one feature that is already being used today. This is the ability to analyse a large amount of information in a matter of seconds. The tourism industry has received a huge help to significantly improve the quality of service. The advantage of AI has helped to simplify life not only for customers but also for employees, including multimillion-dollar savings for companies.

By investing in the development of AI-powered applications, companies can ultimately gain much more than they spend. Let's take the development of customer preference software, such as Well Traveled, for example. With the help of such a programme, you can collect information about the preferences of the customer base in a fairly short period of time. How does it work? All the pages you browse on the Internet are recorded. AI understands which posts or texts or sites you linger on, which means you are interested in. Analysing such data allows the programme to draw a conclusion about your preferences and let a person know what offer to make to you and how to approach it to make you interested.

Your preferences say more about you than you think. As the saying goes: if you own the information, you own the world.

Here is another great example of AI application in the travel industry. One of the companies has invested in the development of software that helps to regulate hotel room prices in a way that is as profitable as possible. By analysing a huge bag of information on weather, demand, and events, prices are set to the maximum benefit of the company.

Programmes and bots collect as much information about you as possible online to help you buy the most convenient and profitable tickets or find the nearest transport (using your geolocation), send you an attractive offer on your birthday or remind you of a long-planned purchase.

What do you think the improvement of face recognition will lead to? You won't have to have paper documents and registration can be faster and better, because the network is difficult to fool. Protection against fraudsters and scammers will also rise to a higher level, once you learn how to find and confirm the information found using artificial intelligence.

Near future with Al Assistant

How would you like to see an app that can reschedule all your bookings, for example, in the event of a flight delay due to unexpected natural disasters? Sounds great, right? Artificial intelligence will be able to conduct a lightning-fast analysis of data from the weather to available flight offers, or rooms, or even booked parking, and offer the most effective solutions to the issue. You won't have to spend a lot of time calling, negotiating, and expressing indignation at the company or employee. AI will save you and the employee's nerves by offering a quick option to accept the situation and a way out for you and doing a lot of work for the company's employee.

Vogel assures that the process is ongoing and that it is only a matter of time before the next leap in service quality with AI is made.

What can be applied in the travel industry right now?

Have you ever come across robots at airports? If not, your surprise is yet to come. Such robots already provide the necessary information in hotels and airports. They are convenient in a wide range of languages, so there is no need to worry about what to ask and how to ask it. Their programmes are developed based on frequently asked questions and a huge amount of information laid out on shelves (folders).

Let's take the Hilton Hotel as an example, their new concierge Connie is a godsend. The hotel provides a room where you can correspond with an AI-based programme and solve your issues or receive offers based on your AI-analysed preferences. It's a kind of service that anticipates your desires.

The demand for AI is growing due to many factors of human development, but not everyone is satisfied with the results they get. After all, AI is still very far from human understanding, even with the amount of information it has. Therefore, today, human assistance is still very necessary and often relevant.

Returning to statistics, we can draw a conclusion:

• 11% of people under 35 prefer AI for travelling
• 4% of people over 35 choose AI for travelling

The trend in the travel industry is clearly visible, despite the still significant advantage of human intelligence.