There has been an increase in the popularity of the idea of artificial intelligence in the tourist industry as technology has progressed over the years. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a term used to describe the ability of machine-learning algorithms to learn from data and to operate in a way that mimics the actions and thoughts of humans, using algorithms.
AI is a concept that has been in existence for decades. Still, computers and other machines that are capable of performing complex tasks on their own have taken a while to make it to the point where they can perform complex tasks without any help. This concept is strongly connected to the idea of automation, which refers to the fact that most of the processes are performed without the need for additional human intervention.
Nowadays, in order to stay competitive in the modern era, businesses need to collect and store data in a standard manner. By using data from the monitoring system, it’s possible to enable artificial intelligence via the use of machines which would be able to analyze and solve problems, as well as translate speech, send direct messages, and improve customer service and personalization during their journey through the system.
The tourism industry is utilizing artificial intelligence for a variety of applications, including helping customers find their perfect vacation destinations, giving personalized recommendations for activities and attractions, and optimizing marketing campaigns to attract more customers.
How Is AI Transforming the Tourism Industry?
Traveling was a hassle before AI revolutionized the travel industry. You would have to spend a lot of time figuring out your itinerary, hunting for flights, and looking through multiple filters to find a particular hotel to book it.
Now, there’s Skyscanner to provide better recommendations for airplane tickets to your target destinations, TripAdvisor to share experiences for favorite destinations, and Booking.com to recommend cheap hotels in target destinations.
Here’s how AI has transformed the tourism industry:
Data Analysis
As AI in tourism works in conjunction with data science, machine learning, and other methods of collecting and processing data, it gives companies access to vast amounts of information. Companies can develop descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive models with the assistance of data automation tools to guide their decision-making processes and assist them in making informed decisions.
Travel Assistants
In the process of planning a trip, artificial intelligence has made it possible to automate almost every aspect of the process, from booking hotels to adding dates to your calendar. It’s like having a real life travel agent without needing an actual person to be present.
Flight Forecasting
Several advanced artificial intelligence and data science algorithms are used by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in order to predict flight demand during peak seasons. As a way of explaining and incorporating the emerging trends seen in the travel industry from the different segments, these predictions rely on analytics from statistical models.
Advanced Personalization System
A combination of machine learning and data science can help travelers get recommendations suited to their tastes and needs through data science. You might search for something such as “hotels in Tokyo” on an app or website, and the results you’ll view when you open it next time will be focused on accommodation in Tokyo and its surrounding regions.
Customer Service Robots
There has been an increasing trend of travel agencies, hotels, and airlines utilizing chatbots to enhance their customer service. The use of chatbots by travelers has also increased significantly over the past year, especially in the wake of the pandemic.
One of the most awesome features of an AI-powered chatbot is that they are capable of answering FAQs, and they will be able to do this with automated responses.
Sentiment Analysis
The use of machine learning-based sentiment analysis tools is becoming increasingly common among hotels and airlines so that they can understand the posts and comments that are made by their customers on social networks about the services they offer.
Using this, you can evaluate how your business is being managed and apply the necessary measures to make it more efficient. An airline will, for example, give a customer a discount on their next booking if he or she complains about a delayed flight.
Benefits of Artificial Intelligence in Tourism
Tourism is undergoing a revolution thanks to artificial intelligence. A variety of travel services have adopted AI-driven technology to improve the travel planning process, such as chatbots, virtual assistants, and other services that help travelers plan their trips more easily and conveniently.
The use of AI-enabled systems will also allow employees to perform other more hands-on tasks as the AI systems will complete certain tasks for them alone. The result of this will be a significant reduction in operating time and costs, as well as enabling companies to offer more competitive prices.
Besides customer service and marketing automation as the key benefits of AI in tourism, AI has potential applications in the areas of process optimization, data analysis, and customer relationship management. Artificial intelligence will play a significant role in the tourism industry in the future due to the benefits of such an integration.
Improve Data Collection
As part of their distribution, cloud-based AI tools include data management integrations for organizing, analyzing, and interpreting large amounts of data on the cloud. A combination of these tools as well as a technology that provides self-optimizing machine learning algorithms makes it possible for brands to access better data.
Enhance Customer Experience
Travel companies’ reputations depend on the customer satisfaction they provide because it is one of the most important aspects of brand recognition. These are some examples of how artificial intelligence can improve customer service in several ways:
- A customer service representative will assist you. You should invest in AI-enabled chatbots that use natural language processing algorithms to ensure that automated responses are humanized since over 96% of customers say that customer service impacts their relationship with a company.
- Personalized service. A smart recommendation system works to reduce the number of steps required for a user to complete actions by improving the experience of the user. The AI is able to make recommendations depending on your preferences once it learns certain things about you.
- Hospitality. In particular, AI optimizes the hospitality score for travelers by optimizing every aspect of travel.
- Dynamic pricing is a feature that is becoming more popular. As a result of the current market instability, it is essential for users to be able to check the current prices of products in real time. In addition, AI inventory tools can change the price of services in your inventory without requiring any human intervention, thereby helping your customers get the best possible corporate and personal travel deals at any time of day or night.
- Analyzing sentiment from a social media perspective. By combining AI and Machine Learning (ML) algorithms together, you can get an overall view of how the consumer perceives your brand. You can easily keep tabs on your satisfaction score since over half of consumers are willing to criticize a company online before calling out the company directly.
Boost Data Security
There is no doubt that AI tools are more secure now than they were before since most of them are cloud-based. There is also nothing to worry about with regard to data security because most providers of cloud services like Microsoft’s Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) use encryption protocols to protect sensitive information.
Streamline Baggage Handling
It is now possible to track, trace, and manage baggage handling operations through the use of AI tools like BagsID, which rely on biometric data. By using rapid computer vision in conjunction with AI, the AI is able to track luggage on a trip, thus reducing the chance of human error during travel.
Provide Branding Tools
Keeping your brand identity impeccable in the era of social media is essential if you want to remain relevant in this industry. In order to understand how your brand is doing, you need to pay attention to consumer satisfaction data, such as net promoter score (NPS). The use of sentiment analysis tools such as Brand24 takes this to the next level by analyzing your scores on social media as well as your content.
Tourism Industry Trends Driven by AI in Recent Years
There are many aspects of travel and tourism in which artificial intelligence drives innovation. Here’s a list of the most relevant applications of artificial intelligence in the tourism sector in 2022:
Providers of Translation Services
Machine translation has been applied to a wide range of applications, with Google Translate being the prime example. The Translation API from Google is used by some companies to localize their platforms on behalf of their clients in order to reach a larger audience. The use of AI and cognitive computing technology is also used by other translation tools, such as Lingo24, to provide a more human-like translation service.
IoT (Internet of Things) Devices
As IoT devices have become more prevalent, travel and artificial intelligence have also started to merge in successful ways. Through AI and machine learning, travelers can now use their devices for everything from planning their vacation to making reservations.
Trip Planning
Visitors can easily and quickly plan their trips through online platforms such as Visits.ai, which allow them to do so with one click. Using artificial intelligence, you will be able to fine-tune your recommendations based on your destination and personal preferences in order to plan your trip and receive tailored suggestions.
Search Optimization Based on Artificial Intelligence for Voice Searches
In addition to search engine optimization, artificial intelligence and tourism are also undergoing a boom in demand for the service. In recent years, businesses have become more interested in using AI and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to optimize search results by using voice commands and keywords.
Blockchain Technology
The best way to improve travel and tourism going forward is to implement artificial intelligence with the blockchain, which will make payments, smart contracts, transparency, luggage management, and loyalty programs more effective.
Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) Systems
It’s important to note that one of the positive outcomes of this new initiative is that it increases contactless online experiences, especially in a sector of the economy that is very dependent on tourism and hospitality. In today’s day and age, there is no shortage of VR gadgets available to use, allowing you to virtually visit places before you finalize your bucket list of travel destinations.
A Hyper-Personalized Experience
With the help of AI-driven change, we will soon see a plethora of payment options available to us, such as personalized pricing, advertising, bundling, bidding, and subscription services. Additionally, travel companies will offer exclusive insurance deals to their customers in order to attract more travelers.
