AI AND ITS IMPACT ON TRAVEL INDUSTRY



HOW AI HAS TRANSFORMED TRAVEL INDUSTRY ?

Nowadays, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made its place in our lives and is quite successful in making everything more efficient than before. So, it's no wonder that it's a game-changer for the travel industry as well. AI has modernized almost everything and is improving all the time.

The capacity for AI to perform tasks that have traditionally required human cognitive function has made it especially useful for those in the travel industry. AI can save businesses time and money while potentially eliminating human error by creating personalized suggestions after analyzing large sets of data and allowing tasks to be performed quickly, at any time of the day.

AI WITHIN THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY

CHATBOTS AND ONLINE CUSTOMER SERVICE

AI-powered chatbots have enhanced the customer experience by providing full-fledged facilities. Chatbots assist customers in solving their queries instantly, making every process a lot quicker. AI has paved the path and can respond to questions and provide valuable information through online services and automated chatbots. AI-enabled assistants can carry out guests’ requests and offer real-time recommendations allowing travelers to search for favorite destinations.

DATA PROCESSING AND ANALYSIS

The chief advantage that AI offers in this field is the ability to sort through large amounts of data quickly and accurately whereas, a human would take significantly more time and is prone to error. Moreover, AI analyzes the searching patterns of the customer and then meticulously examines these patterns for predicting customer needs. Many hotels and travel agencies use AI to sort through customer feedback from surveys, reviews, and online. All of this is done to build a much clearer picture and to enhance the whole procedure.

VIRTUAL BOOKING

Virtual Reality (VR) has taken the world by storm, and in recent years it has come to the forefront mainstream playing a vital role in transforming the travel industry. VR technology has made the entire booking process effortless and weariless. Travel customers usually require lots of information before they book a hotel room. That may, for instance, necessitate them to read descriptions, view images, look at videos, read customer reviews, or seek opinions on social media. Through intelligent use of VR, this cumbersome procedure is cut-short significantly.

DYNAMIC PRICING TOOLS

Travel organizers enhance the customer experience using dynamic pricing tools that leverage predictive or even prescriptive analysis. These tools help customers track deals and notify them of travel deals. They let the customers know when the best deal is and when to wait. Dynamic pricing tool also benefits hotels and airlines to forecast fare prices and to modify hotel rates.

AI ON THE RAILS

Travel is stressful at times, especially for railway passengers. But machine learning and AI have played a key role in analyzing vast quantities of available data to create a contextually rich, highly personalized, and fully predictive journey. With the AI bots, online rail booking has proven to be quite helpful in advising passengers where they are most likely to find a seat, depending on the location and direction of their specific journey.

FROM INSTINCT TO MACHINE LEARNING

From relying on instinct to depending on machine learning, this journey is quite fascinating. AI and Machine learning has revolutionized traveling by using python-based algorithms on large datasets within its travel insight data platform, analyzing the search patterns of different destinations. From these patterns, AI helps airlines decide where and when to fly for more profit.

CHALLENGES FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN TOURISM

Although AI is progressing rapidly, there are still some limitations to its usage. AI replaces human efforts, thus giving rise to the debate of AI replacing human intelligence. Even though AI provides monetary benefits by replacing employees and non-monetary benefits by providing a unique experience to the customers, one cannot deny the inevitable fact that it can’t surpass human intelligence, as it is still an emerging area.

SAFETY AND SECURITY

One of the considerable and continuous challenges to the use of AI is the safety and security of data. This concern hinders applying AI in some of the crucial sectors like finance and the military.

MALWARE ATTACKS

AI inevitably brings with it malware attacks. An insignificant-looking malware attack can disrupt the whole program and thus can lead to the collapse of one’s business.

FUTURE APPLICATIONS OF AI IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM

There are a lot of avenues and areas in the Travel & Tourism industry where there is a greater scope to apply AI for improved services. These may include unexpected and surprising ones. AI can transform a hotel room into a desirable tourist spot, transforming everything into a virtual 3D view of a particular destination.

Although there is a rejection of Facial Recognition technologies due to the issues of data privacy & security, future AI technologies may solve such problems by incorporating more robust blockchain technologies that assure data privacy & security. In the upcoming years, we may see robots doing most of the stuff, Visual Positioning Systems (VPS) may take over the Global Positioning System (GPS), and many more.

To sum up, there might be many more brand-new and unexpected points related to service and customer touchpoints, where AI may be applied in the future.

CONCLUSION

From enhanced data insights to automation, organizations can take advantage of the benefits AI offers the travel industry. In technology-driven times, the rise in the AI footprint in the tourism industry is a good sign. It indicates that the industry can make optimum use of the latest technology to improve efficiency and productivity. Due to the widening application of innovative technology, the tech-gurus expect that the tourism industry will reach unimaginable heights in the future due to technological factors that can mold the industry landscape and the processes conducted by tourism businesses.

WRITTEN BY: SYEDA KHADIJA ABIDI