As Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to evolve, it is helping the entire travel industry transform in unimaginable ways. From personalizing customer experiences to making travel safer for all, there are various ways in which AI is influencing the travel industry. Let’s explore 12 notable ways in which AI has significantly upgraded travel experiences for all.
Virtual Travel Assistants
The adoption of AI assistants and intelligent chatbots has drastically lowered the need to visit travel agencies to book flights, find the best accommodations, get fascinating travel inspirations, etc. Travelers can now quickly chat their way to their next trip using virtual travel assistants like Skyscanner bot.
Bots like these are designed to respond to users’ travel queries in a conversational tone. They are easy to use and guide people in various steps of their travel planning and booking phase.
Predictive Pricing
AI-powered predictive pricing is a game changer for the entire travel industry. It helps estimate future flight and hotel prices by analyzing massive volumes of historical pricing data and current demand trends. Hopper is a prime example that shows how AI can be leveraged to advise travelers about the best time to book flights, hotels, etc.
It uses advanced machine learning to analyze trillions of data points to guide travelers on whether to book their trip now or wait for a better price. Hotels and airlines also use it to adjust their prices dynamically.
Sentiment Analysis
Hotels and airlines are turning to sentiment analysis tools to explore what people think and say about them. These AI-powered solutions use machine learning and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to search every online conversation around their brand. It converts every customer feedback into clear and actionable insights for improving customer experiences.
They even alert companies about significant service disruptions, product glitches, etc., being talked about online for faster resolutions. Big airlines like British Airways actively use these tools to serve travelers better.
Smart Baggage Handling
Airports are benefiting massively by embracing automation solutions to reduce baggage mishandling challenges. Major airlines like Delta Air Lines have reported drastic improvements in their baggage handling performance since they introduced 600+ Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) readers at 84 airports. Some airlines also use Electronic Bag Tags (EBT) alongside Bluetooth so travelers can directly track their baggage through apps for greater convenience.
Wind Forecasting
Flights often get delayed due to unruly weather, especially during intense winds. While wind magnitude and direction can appear trivial to some, it significantly affects flight schedules. In severe cases, strong winds can also make flights change their runways, creating a chain reaction of flight delays. It is why airlines are turning to AI solutions to anticipate and manage disruptive weather events. Lufthansa Airlines has already increased its on-time flights by using Google Cloud ML.
Facial Recognition
AI-driven facial recognition systems are streamlining check-in processes in major airports. It is replacing boarding passes for quicker security clearance and reduced wait times. Major airports in countries like the United States of America (USA), India, Japan, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Spain, etc., now use facial recognition systems to make travelers’ experience contactless and hassle-free.
Personalized Customer Experiences
Travelers now demand better and personalized customer experiences while traveling, so all major travel players are adopting AI solutions to serve their customers better. Singapore Airlines is one of the many airlines that have used AI to automate most of their customer-facing processes to respond to customer queries faster, assign human agents for complex queries, etc.
They have deployed a virtual concierge that answers 85,000+ questions weekly, so travelers get instant replies for common queries around check-in procedures, baggage allowances, online bookings, etc.
Improved Safety Measures
Airports are one of the busiest places, making it challenging for staff to manually verify every traveler’s identity faster and efficiently. This is why major airports around the world are using AI-powered biometrics solutions to authenticate passengers, simplify the check-in process, and speed up their boarding process.
Over 200 American airports now use Biometric Facial Comparison Technology to provide pleasant travel experiences, and the responses have been overwhelmingly positive.
Streamlined Operations
Hospitality brands can serve more travelers faster and with greater efficiency by incorporating AI smart concierge into their daily operations. They can automate various service aspects like scheduling room service, having items sent to a hotel room, upselling nearby attraction tickets, etc. As AI takes over these tasks, hotels can encourage employees to focus on more strategic activities to boost revenue, streamline several operations, and reduce operational costs.
Automating Customer Loyalty Programs
Customer loyalty programs are great ways to attract repeat bookings from existing customers. While the concept of loyalty programs is straightforward, creating worthwhile programs that lead to repeat bookings isn’t easy.
It is where hospitality leaders and major airlines are using AI solutions to analyze their customers’ transaction history, personal preferences fetched during sign-up, online tracking, etc., to create lucrative loyalty programs. Emirates, Southwest, American Airlines, etc., use advanced AI-driven tools like Rocket Travel to curate personalized loyalty programs to create win-win situations for both brands and travelers.
Reducing Payment Frauds
Travel and tourism businesses are prone to payment frauds and it costs them significant financial losses. Since payment frauds are becoming more sophisticated with time, businesses are turning to AI-powered solutions to prevent payment fraud. These solutions analyze massive amounts of data, including transaction patterns, guest behavior, etc., to identify suspicious activity and anomalies that generally escape human attention. It controls payment fraud to a great extent while helping businesses implement proactive risk management.
Virtual Reality (VR) Experiences
Major hotel chains around the world are embracing VR technology driven by advanced AI algorithms to give virtual property tours to people considering booking their hotel. It helps people make better and faster decisions, boosting hotel bookings. Some of the biggest hotels, like Atlantis Dubai, Valamar Dubrovnik President Hotel, Bora Bora’s Overwater Bungalows, etc., offer VR tours to attract more travelers and boost their booking rates.
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