AI is Making Travel and Tourism Easier and More Enjoyable
June 21, 2024
AI is coming to travel and tourism to make it easier and more enjoyable! This could be huge news for AI fans. Why? Travel and tourism have become among the most popular activities in the world. It is also highly lucrative. Estimates suggest the tourism industry generates over USD 7.7 trillion per year. (Yes, that was trillions, not billions!)
Alongside this vast number is a forecast from Market US that generative AI is set to hit USD 24.3 billion in 2025.
Together, these two large numbers provide insight into some fascinating opportunities for AI in travel and tourism. Let's explore why.
Millions of people travel yearly to explore new places, cultures, and experiences. They expect to have fun and relaxation on their travels. However, the reality doesn't always meet expectations. Travel and tourism can also be stressful and time-consuming to organize and challenging when it doesn't go as planned. It's for such times that artificial intelligence (AI) becomes interesting.
AI is the technology used by machines using simulated human intelligence to perform tasks usually done by humans.
These tasks can include understanding language, making decisions, recognizing images or places, and sifting through enormous amounts of data. AI has the capacity to transform many aspects of travel and tourism. Used properly, AI in tourism should make traveling simpler and more enjoyable for tourists - and increase efficiency for service providers.
Here are five ways AI in travel is doing that already.
1. Personalized Recommendations
Travelers and vacationers are individuals. Finding the destinations, activities, and accommodations that suit their unique preferences, budgets, and schedules is always challenging.
AI can analyze vast amounts of data from multiple sources to provide a highly personalized recommendation or itinerary. What might take hours to do by plowing through online reviews, social media, and booking platforms can be done in moments by AI.
With information collated from thousands of data sources, AI tools can suggest the best time to visit certain places. These sources will include information on weather, prices, likely crowds, and exciting events.
With a few simple clicks, AI can also recommend the best attractions, restaurants, and hotels based on travelers' interests, tastes, and feedback.
Using simple questionnaires to learn the visitor's preferences, AI tools like Trip Genie and Enoza can create personalized itineraries based on the traveler's goals, duration, and mode of transportation.
2. Intelligent Assistance
AI can answer questions, offer suggestions, and solve problems using natural language input and processing backed by machine learning.
Through its ability to search vast amounts of data at lightning speed, AI can help travelers find the best deals when booking their flights, cars, hotels, or side trips. AI can also make the traveler aware of otherwise obscure options and availability. Travelers no longer need to struggle when checking in or boarding, as AI can provide real-time updates and reminders.
Emergencies should no longer cause concern to travelers. AI is in place in many airports or travel hubs to help them cope with emergencies, such as lost luggage, missed flights, or medical issues.
3. Enhanced Experiences
AI tools are being used to enable tourists to enhance their experiences through various technologies, such as augmented reality and virtual reality.
In the past, a tourist may have dipped into Wikipedia for some facts about a location's history. Then, they might flick through Tripadvisor or other forums for advice on restaurants. This is rather tedious and open to missing unique details. Conversely, AI will combine information in a way that is pertinent to that traveler. The tourist can learn more about the places they visit based on their specific interests and preferences. This might be presented through interactive displays or include curated history, culture, and geography information.
AI can also help travelers interact more easily with people they meet on their travels. This ability could be via apps that translate text-to-speech or instant verbal translation in real-time conversations. AI in travel can go one step further to avoid miscommunication by offering sentiment analysis. This is far removed from the simple translator apps we've been using on our phones!
Regarding memory capture, AI can help travelers through photo and video editing tools. Face detection, 'best image' capture, along with face detection, object recognition, and style transfer will add to the arsenal of available tools.
4. Robotics AI in Travel
One way in which sci-fi-like AI is used to make the travel experience enjoyable is through robots. Although these are not as visible or as humanized as one might have hoped, they are having an impact.
Behind the scenes, Dave the Robot Dog is busy keeping builders safe at Heathrow Airport. However, Dave is unlikely to have had a noticeable impact on your travel plans. But Heathrow is also exploring the use of robot baggage handlers, which it says will sort out some of the more annoying issues travelers face, such as delays and missing bags.
Elsewhere, hotels have tried using robots to entice and entertain visitors. The Henn na Hotel in Japan was the first to use robots (both humanoid and dinosaur) as check-in staff in 2015. Others followed suit. That was before AI was available in its current evolution. These were more like gimmicks, and many failed.
Today, many hotel services are performed by AI, generally in a more discreet manner. These are less like stunts. In many hotels, hotel safety, concierge services, and more are now handled by AI robotics. This is increasing as it improves service while cutting costs.
5. Making the travel process smoother
AI for toursim is being used out of sight to speed up various travel processes and create a safer environment.
AI-based facial recognition is used alongside other biometric tools to check the identity of passengers. Dubai International Airport was an early adopter of such technology. Despite vast numbers of passengers passing through, with over 27 million just in the first half of 2022, 96% of passengers waited for less than three minutes for security checks.
Baggage safety checks and handling are essential parts of airport security—and a common source of complaint when bags go missing. Changi Airport in Singapore uses AI to scan cabin bags using 3D imagery. This has resulted in time saving and more accurate scans of the bags’ contents.
Airports such as Schiphol in the Netherlands are using AI to manage baggage handling. This ensures its safety when it goes on board a plane but also results in less loss and faster delivery.
The same airport uses AI to monitor plane movement, runway usage, as well as baggage collection and catering deliveries. It can pinpoint potential delays or bottlenecks up to 40 minutes in advance.
Dallas-Fort Worth Airport uses another version of AI monitoring for passengers. Using heat sensors, queue movement and other data, it can advise passengers of the time needed to walk from one gate to another or delays in line waits.
These are just a few ways AI is already used behind the scenes to make your journey smoother and safer.
AI, a tool with immense potential – how will you use it?
Although a relatively new technology to many, AI is making great headways into many aspects of our daily lives. As we’ve seen, AI in travel and tourism is making the experience easier and more enjoyable. Unlike the independent and often fragmented internet searches we may have used to prior to traveling, AI can bring us a wealth of information. This provides all travelers – you and I - with personalized recommendations, intelligent assistance, and enhanced experiences.
Travel and AI are creating new opportunities for the companies we rely on, such as airlines and hotels but it is also producing challenges. These are still early days, and there is much to learn. AI is not a threat. It is a tool. A tool that can help us enjoy our travel, perhaps cheaper and easier.
We asked Garry Lea, CEO of Global Triangles, for his views on AI. He said:
"AI is not just a technology. It's a mindset around understanding the needs and preferences of the individual traveler. AI will deliver personalized experiences that will exceed the travelers' expectations. In my opinion, AI has the potential to unlock an exciting future for travel and tourism. It will make the whole experience more accessible, affordable, and enjoyable for everyone."
Global Triangles is a US-based company that offers staff augmentation and nearshore services. It has helped companies explore the use of AI with astounding success. If you want to learn how Global Triangles can help your business benefit from AI, please contact us today.
