{"id":17654,"date":"2022-06-24T09:29:43","date_gmt":"2022-06-24T09:29:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umni.bg\/?p=17654"},"modified":"2023-04-06T14:07:47","modified_gmt":"2023-04-06T14:07:47","slug":"the-post-pandemic-opportunity-for-ai-chatbots-in-the-hotels-and-tourism-industry-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umni.bg\/en\/blog\/the-post-pandemic-opportunity-for-ai-chatbots-in-the-hotels-and-tourism-industry-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Post-Pandemic Opportunity for AI Chatbots in the Hotels and Tourism Industry 2023-2025"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Have you heard about Edward from Radisson Blu Edwardian London? Three years after his creation in 2016, he could reply to over 16,000 hotel guests\u2019 questions and perfectly cope with the duty of the Concierge. He was so popular among the hotel guests that they nominated him for the Employee of the Month and even looked to tip him.<\/p>\n

Edward is a smart concierge chatbot. According to a case study about Edward, up to 75% of the questions<\/strong> it replied were the ones that the Front Desk staff replies, 24\/7.<\/p>\n

Robot-concierge at the hotel lobby, voice assistants at \u201csmart\u201d hotel rooms, messenger-based chatbots of hotels, restaurants, leisure companies, and travel agencies\u2014they were already common before Covid-19 at such global chains as Marriott, Hilton, Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Domino\u2019s Pizza, Pizza Hut, TacoBell, Burger King and others.<\/p>\n

Covid-19 did not bring the need for automation, digitization, and robotization to the tourism industry. It only forced the adoption and sped up trends, behavior, habits, and technology usage that were already here in the past years.<\/p>\n

Before Covid-19<\/h3>\n

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Nearly half of the questions related to reservations at Booking.com, which means millions of questions, are processed by a chatbot. It was implemented by the company after research conducted in 2017 in 26 countries among 19,000 customers. It found that 80%<\/a> of the customers preferred a self-service to receive information or service, and for some 50%<\/strong> of them, it didn\u2019t matter who answered: a human being or a chatbot.<\/p>\n

According to a report by Software Advice, an organization engaged with research in technologies, even in 2015 customers would use a smart platform for self-service that would provide them with necessary information or service. According to another survey by Google three years ago, up to 60%<\/a> of customers thought that Artificial Intelligence (AI) must be utilized in the tourism industry and 36%<\/a> of them were ready to pay for such a service.<\/p>\n

The growing digital-first habits and the constant acceleration of everyday life brought customers to the \u201csee, hear, try, and buy right now and here\u201c mode. Even before the pandemic, a few years ago already over 50% of customers were convinced that businesses must be present online and be ready for communication 24\/7 via chat in addition to phone calls, e-mail, or SMS. Salesforce published a report in 2019, according to which 78%<\/a> of the customers used text messaging for communicating with a company, and 81% used online chat\u2026 Customers became more mobile, experienced, digitized, and high demanding. Their needs could not be fulfilled without the assistance of technology. Those expectations called for digitization and the automatization of communications.<\/p>\n

The Pandemic opened the door to technology<\/h3>\n

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Tourists confirm it. In the Autumn of 2020, Amadeus did global research in Europe, the United States, and Asia. According to the survey, 84%<\/a> of the travelers responded that the usage of technology in all touch points of travel is the key to the decision-making if, when, where, and how they will travel in the next months and year. Did you know also that 73%<\/a> of people agree that they\u2019re more likely to stay at a hotel that offers self-service technology to minimize contact with the staff and other guests. 77% of travelers are interested in using automated messaging or chatbots for customer service requests at hotels. 38% want a fully self-service model, with staff only available upon request. And 39% want to order room service from their phone or a chatbot. That\u2019s why 96% of hotels are already investing in contactless technology, with 62% noting \u201ca fully contactless experience\u201d is likely to be the most widely adopted tech in the industry in the next three years. Travelers expect technology to help them:<\/p>\n