
AI and Machine Learning in the Travel Industry: How to do it Right
Sure, travel may well be relegated to the background in recent years. According to the UNWTO's Barometer, 54 million visitors crossed international borders in July 2021, a 67 percent decrease from the same month in 2019. Nonetheless, the tourism industry is (slowly but steadily) reviving. Over the following two to three years, the numbers are projected to return to pre-pandemic levels, implying that now is an excellent moment for travel companies to investigate strategies to prepare for the future.
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With massive technical advances occurring on a daily basis, there is little question that AI and machine learning will contribute to substantial breakthroughs in the tourism sector. Still, the issue remains: what is the best method to use AI and machine learning in travel right now? And how does it progress from a novelty to a feature that is truly useful to customers?
Enhancing the Customer Experience
The greatest approach to apply AI to the travel business immediately (and successfully) is to utilise it to improve customer experience.
Travel and holidays, while regarded as some of the most effective stress relievers, are not without their drawbacks. Information overload affects up to 67 percent of vacationers. Furthermore, 41% are burdened by the effort of scheduling. Looking at these figures, it is evident that there is still a lot of opportunity for improvement when it comes to offering travel-related services to customers.
For the past several years, big corporations have effectively implemented AI with the goal of improving customer experience. Hyatt, for example, implemented the use of an Intelligent Virtual Assistant (IVA), which assisted the company in saving $4.4 million on customer care without sacrificing the quality of service that its customers expected.
Smaller firms use powerful AI and ML algorithms to detect price decreases in airfare. Once the information has been gathered, the company's human operators try to provide it to its consumers. This is accomplished by either tailored notifications or extensive tips on discovering and booking economical flights. Of course, not all firms in the travel sector can afford to engage in modern technological development. What they can do, though, is implement low-cost solutions that have the potential to improve consumer experience.
CHATBOTS
Chatbots, for example, are an excellent website tool since they can handle a major part of client concerns and inquiries. Furthermore, they are extremely efficient at gathering essential client data, which may help to speed the sales process even if the company has a small workforce and a restricted number of hours when its operators are available.
Curation of Content and Recommendations
Making AI and ML a component of firms' content marketing strategy is a somewhat different but equally effective method to employing them in the tourism industry. Content marketing, as one of the most common selling methods, is important to as many as 91 percent of all firms. However, it is frequently costly and may even fall short of expectations. This is where AI and machine learning come into play.
It is also feasible to employ AI and ML to create recommender systems that select the most relevant material to display to website users. If a brand's content marketing plan includes blog posts and guides, for example, a machine learning recommender may assist optimise suggested items, allowing customers to stay online for longer and be more engaged.
Because the proper photo, for example, might be the difference between a sale and a miss, companies like Tripadvisor utilise deep learning to discover and select photographs that will be given to consumers looking for lodging and services. This ensures that each listing is displayed in the best light possible, making it simpler to capture user attention without setting false expectations or turning off potential purchasers with low-quality photos.
UX Enhancements for the Website
Finally, one of the most common applications of AI and machine learning in the tourism business is unrelated to travel. Nonetheless, it plays a significant part in assisting organisations in providing great customer service. The application in question aims to improve online UX by collecting and analysing pertinent data.
Brands may uncover underperforming pages and UI parts and either optimise or delete them by simply observing user behaviours on websites and perhaps integrating the data with eye-tracking or heatmaps. This enables customers to obtain their desired products/services more quickly. While doing so, it also helps brands increase conversions, making the strategy a win-win for everyone involved.
Last Thoughts
While there are countless fascinating and new methods to use AI and ML into the travel business, it's critical to recognise that they're more than just a pipe dream.
Much more crucially, AI and ML reflect the realities of running a travel firm (or any business) in 2021 and beyond, which means entrepreneurs must figure out how to use them to their advantage.
They might do so by investing in the creation of their own solutions. Alternatively, they may commit to locating resources that help their firm grow. Their funds will determine their selection. But one thing is certain: a sales and marketing strategy that is up to date is bound to provide greater results than one that is out of date and does not make the most of the available data and technology.