A report published a few months ago by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) highlighted the transformative power of AI in the tourism sector. The organization emphasized the fundamental role that these technologies can play in providing personalized and enhanced experiences for tourists.
In addition, the report highlights the benefits of AI in improving recommendations and marketing strategies, analyzing travel data, optimizing pricing strategies with real-time adjustments and providing instant responses and personalized interactions through chatbots or virtual assistants.
The report also points to the capabilities of AI in predicting future demand patterns, efficiently allocating resources and providing valuable information to administrations and all stakeholders in the travel and tourism sector.
At Neosmart, we have already seen various use cases in this area, such as Kayak, which has integrated AI to provide travel tips via a chatbot or find flights via screenshot. Vodafone Business uses a generative AI-based virtual assistant that acts as a hotel receptionist and is able to book restaurants, order cabs or buy tickets. PortAventura World also has a chatbot that understands the park's visitors and responds to them by giving recommendations and advice.
In addition, other companies in the industry have shared how they are using GenAI. For example, the Freetours platform Guruwalk, whose AI developer Víctor Mollá explained how they began testing in early 2023 to see how it could impact their business.
After conducting various experiments, they saw great potential in customer service. They first developed a tool that could respond to user requests as if they were being handled by a human team, to help their employees cope with the high volume of tickets at peak times of tourist demand.
"After realizing the great potential of this tool, we decided to launch it as an external tool under the name GuruSup. Currently, GuruSup solves around 100,000 user tickets per month for our customers, who are all from the tourism industry. This allows the companies that use it to provide a better service to travelers and generate great satisfaction with the company," adds Mollá.
Santiago Ways, a tour operator and travel agency for the Camino de Santiago, uses several AI tools to improve its services and optimize the customer experience.
They use recommendation systems to analyze user preferences and improve the best options, have implemented chatbots on their social media to provide 24/7 support, use AI to efficiently coordinate luggage transfers between stages, and use data analysis tools to identify trends in customer preferences and adapt their offers.
Finally, they use AI-powered marketing automation platforms to create "highly segmented, personalized and efficient campaigns" to increase conversion and customer retention rates.
"These tools not only allow us to offer a more personalized and secure service, but also to optimize our operations and keep us at the forefront of the self-guided walking tour industry," Joseba Menoyo, founder and CEO of Santiago Ways, tells Neosmart.
Red lines
As in other sectors, tourism agencies, tour operators and hotels must prioritize privacy and data protection and comply with GDPR regulations. They must also avoid discrimination and bias, which can be achieved through audits.
"The use of these new technologies does not exclude human control in critical decisions, especially those that affect consumers, such as the resolution of complaints or problems," recommends Silvia Avilés, director of the Tourism Innovation Summit (TIS), a tourism innovation congress taking place in Seville at the end of October.
"There should also be mechanisms for customers to report and correct errors caused by AI. Tourism companies need to ensure cyber security by implementing robust measures to protect AI systems from hacking and unauthorized access to ensure that data and operations are secure and reliable," she advises.
AI in tourism
The aforementioned WTTC report pointed out that the travel and tourism industry is somewhat behind in the adoption of AI compared to other consumer-facing industries. But that can change quickly.
"All indications are that generative AI has the potential to transform the travel and tourism industry in the medium term, taking personalization and automation of services to unprecedented levels. In addition, AI also has the ability to optimize processes and improve efficiency throughout the sector's value chain," Avilés emphasizes.
For the Director of the Tourism Innovation Summit, the automation of processes such as check-in/check-out, inventory management and customer service through AI-powered chatbots "will continue to significantly reduce waiting times and operating costs, allowing industry professionals to focus on more strategic tasks and provide a more personalized and human service."
New reports published in April by the World Travel and Tourism Council and Microsoft emphasize the power of AI and its role in shaping the future of travel and tourism, highlighting a commitment to a digital future that prioritizes safety, ethical considerations and the responsible adoption of AI.
Julia Simpson, President and CEO of the WTTC, stated that "in a rapidly evolving landscape, AI is emerging as a catalyst for positive change" adding that "the insights gained in these reports show that it is not just a technological advance, but a strategic tool that can personalize customer experiences, drive sustainable improvements and shape the future of travel and tourism."
Shainock, general manager for the travel, transportation and logistics industry at Microsoft, acknowledged that AI is being used across the travel ecosystem "to improve the customer and employee experience and drive efficiencies in operations, but we know we are only at the beginning of the journey."
"We are excited to see what the future holds as AI is widely deployed to automate the most mundane tasks of travel and harness the true spirit of travel to enhance the human experience," she concluded.
