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The travel and hospitality industry has always been quick to adopt cutting-edge technology and innovations to drive operational excellence and enhanced guest experiences. Naturally, this industry is no exception to the increasing prevalence of artificial intelligence across aspects of everyday life. According to the International Air Transport Association, there will be a significant increase in passenger traffic in 2024 and the number of passengers traveling by air may reach 4.7 billion this year, a jump from the 4.5 billion passengers in pre-pandemic 2019. With this increase of expected travelers in 2024, it is imperative that travel and hospitality brands are equipped with advanced technologies to retain and drive operational excellence while still focusing on the guest experience. In this blog, we take a look at the top emerging trends and opportunities in ML & AI in this industry for 2024:
Smarter, conversational artificial intelligence will be integrated into various platforms to provide enhanced customer experience and satisfaction with improved booking processes, customer service and 24/7 assistance at every step of the guest’s travel journey. These ‘smarter’ chatbots help travel & hospitality brands save time and reduce costs, offer personalized travel recommendations, real-time trip updates and quick resolutions. Guests will know that they are communicating with AI, so companies must ensure these chatbots are providing valuable, efficient and convenient insights.
The intelligent concierge concept takes chatbots and virtual assistants a step further, offering the most sophisticated and personalized concierge experience for guests. The emergence of Large Language Models created the capability to leverage highly conversational, personalized experiences that rivals a traditional, physical concierge. Responses and inquiries are deeply personalized, timely and via any channel the guest prefers.
AR and VR technologies can be leveraged to enhance the guest’s travel experience, offering the ability to preview destinations, virtually tour accommodations, or even experience local attractions before they make a reservation or booking decision. Virtual reality cannot replace the experience of a true vacation, but it can certainly provide a realistic expectation of the destination. This capability is also growing in popularity in the hotel space, with virtual tours of rooms and amenities to stand out from competing hoteliers. Booking.com released a recent study that showed that 43% of global travelers say that virtual reality inspires their vacation choices and that another 46% say they are more likely to travel to unfamiliar destinations after experiencing it virtually.
Evolving the user experience with personalization is no new trend for any industry, but artificial intelligence takes personalization to an entirely new level. AI algorithms and integrations enable hotels to get a 360 view of the guest in minutes, giving them the opportunity to deliver unique, exceptional experiences to each and every one of their guests. The new term ‘web of one’ has been introduced recently as a segmentation of data so deep and specific to the individual guest that it has the potential to transform how all hotels communicate with all guests.
Imagine a guest checking into a hotel for their favorite team’s game at a nearby stadium. AI could enable the hotel to know about this particular guest’s plans in their city so they could offer a room that has stadium views, share gameday tips or even recommend the local team’s pub where fans gather. The hotel can easily offer that unique, tailored treatment to the guest which has the potential to drive extreme loyalty and memorable experiences with the brand.
The Generative AI market is expected to grow to $1.3 trillion over the next 10 years from a market size of just about $40 billion in 2022, according to a recent report by Bloomberg Intelligence (BI). Generative AI that is baked into loyalty programs is a complete game changer for brands, especially those in the travel & hospitality space. Guests enrolled into a company’s loyalty program are already providing consent and access to their zero and first party data, so coupling that data with a powerful generative AI framework is truly a program and company differentiator.
There are still some aspects of AI in the travel and hospitality industry that have shown to be adapted at a slower rate. Some of these technologies may be further out from being the ‘norm’ – technologies like customer service robots at check-in or the lobby, robotic bartenders taking drink orders and even mixing cocktails, or AI-robots directing congestion in a busy airport terminal. These aspects may seem like a ways out of being accepted at scale, but they are already being tested and used with some of the bigger brands in the industry.
The Capillary team traveled to the Skift Global Forum in NYC in September 2023 to connect with industry leaders and discuss what trends were making their way into travel and hospitality. The rise and acceleration of AI was obviously the major theme in most sessions covering marketing, operations, and IT – reflecting the industry’s keen interest in the rapid evolution of technology. Previous fears that “AI will replace me” have transformed into a mindset that“ another company may be utilizing AI more effectively and will end up ahead of us.”
Capillary has extensive experience in leading and innovating in the travel and hospitality industry. Not only was the loyalty platform (Loyalty+) specifically designed to inspire and delight travelers throughout their entire lifecycle with embedded ML & AI, but we’ve now incorporated generative AI into our technologies. Reach out to us today to learn more about Capillary’s travel & hospitality experience and how we stay ahead of trends and deliver memorable experiences across their entire travel lifecycle.
