Online travel agencies, airlines, airports, accommodation and tourist destinations are the most common places where we’ll find bots this summer.
According to The Boston Consulting Group, nowadays, more than 95% of travellers use digital resources before, during or after their trips. But there’s more, Booking recently conducted a report among 18,500 people in 25 countries and found that 80% of tourists prefer to look for information about their holidays without any help from an operator.
The tourism sector has undeniably always been characterised by its continuous investment in new technologies and being the driving force behind the Spanish economy. And with the arrival of chatbots, it was never going to be any different. With this in mind, Chatbot Chocolate, an agency specialised in developing chatbots, has analysed the 5 most common places we can find them this summer.
- ONLINE TRAVEL AGENCIES
Tourists are interacting with chatbots long before arriving in their holiday destination through the big name online travel agencies. Booking, Destinia and Kayak all have integrated chatbots into their Twitter and Facebook Messenger channels to make it easier to search for accommodation with a series of pre-established filters such as price, number of rooms, location, etc. In fact, according to a study conducted by Kayak, Spaniards highlight their main advantage as being available 24/7.
- AIRLINES
Furthermore, customers of some international airlines can find out about the latest news such as flight status, last-minute incidents, etc. before starting their trip. Air Europa and Avianca are just 2 of the companies currently offering these services. “Twitter, Facebook Messenger or the airline’s own mobile app are becoming the star environments to develop these types of chatbots, you need to be extremely versatile with customers and offer them new social channels that they use on a daily basis. Without a question of doubt, having flight and information in the palm of your hand in an environment like WhatsApp is undoubtedly a great option to improve the user experience,” said Ángel Hernández, managing partner at Chatbot Chocolate.
- AIRPORTS
Alongside the Airlines, chatbots are starting to show their full potential in airports. Just as there are chatbots to make it easier to search for and disseminate information in large-scale events, and even in shopping centres, airports are the perfect place to integrate this technology. According to the latest report published by SITA, 9% of airports were already using chatbots in 2017, and it’s expected that by the end of 2020 this figure will rise to 42%.
- ACCOMMODATION
Regarding accommodation, chatbots have also gained a foothold, not only attending customers during their stay but also proving information to people who may become potential customers. “Going to reception to ask for the Wi-Fi password or what time breakfast is served could become a thing of the past with the use of bots. Chatbots are undeniably a new way to interact that are being implemented in channels that consumers have adopted and become a new way to be connected with the surroundings, their families, friends and now with companies too. It’s also true that this will grow as virtual assistants in Smart Speakers are starting to appear in hotel rooms as well” said Hernández.
- DESTINATIONS
And, finally, tourist destinations are also choosing to introduce them in what is becoming known as Smart Tourist Destinations. “We’re already working with destinations to embrace this technology. Typical questions asked at tourist information points include museum opening hours, points of interest in the vicinity and recommendations for restaurants, now all of these can be introduced into chatbots, making them a complementary channel to improve the tourist’s experience” said Hernández.
