AI from buzz to practical implementations in hospitality By Max Starkov

That’s close to a 2 percentage point drop from its forecast in February. O’Neill notes that U.S. urban and airport hotels are set to overperform while those in resort locations will likely underperform relative to their post-pandemic boom. The future of hospitality is here, and it’s more human – and more revolutionary – than we ever imagined. The integration of AI in the hotel industry is not without its challenges. Addressing these concerns head-on is crucial for successful implementation. As AI takes on more routine tasks, the human element in hospitality becomes even more critical.

But Tharp said it’s important for travel companies to start experimenting now and adjusting based on feedback. The vision is that the chatbot will be able to answer general and specific questions based on Google’s swath ChatGPT App of information paired with IHG’s data. And it’s among the first announcements like it by a hotel brand. Many have said they are experimenting with AI in various ways, but that usually hasn’t included trip planning.

How AI and Hospitality Are Revolutionizing Guest Experiences and Streamlining Operations

Furthermore, employees could be granted “AI equity” – shares in a pool that grows as the hotel’s AI capabilities expand. This will mean that there shouldn’t be a massive difference between your experience in a five-star hotel and a two-star hotel. There will be a reliable consistency that will allow you to get the most out of your stay, whatever your reason for being there. Before the internet, when you needed new sneakers, you would have stirred yourself from the couch, driven to the shops, gone from shop to shop trying on shoes, maybe having a snack, before driving back home with your purchase several hours later. With e-commerce you could stay on the sofa, go online, choose your shoes and have them delivered. The productivity gain was immense because that afternoon became half an hour.

The conversations also seem to save properly, unlike on ChatGPT Plus. Visit us online for more about our hotels and reservations and IHG One Rewards. To download the IHG One Rewards app, visit the Apple App or Google Play stores. The hotel company also pointed to Google Cloud’s cybersecurity, data governance and privacy approaches — as well as its ethical stance on AI — as key advantages of the partnership. Our look at the most important tourism stories, including destination management, marketing, and development. TUI Group is one of the first companies to test how it can use a generative AI chatbot to help consumers search through its own portfolio of products.

• Chatbots and virtual assistants have become an essential part of the customer service world and can often help improve customer satisfaction.
• Adding a chatbot provides information to potential guests and can encourage more guest bookings and create conversations.
• “Our Navigators celebrate the culture, ideas, people and talents of their neighborhoods and provide their personal recommendations on what to see and do in their backyard.
• Anyone who’s part of a hotel or airline reward program here in the US has probably noticed recently that those companies are working really hard right now to cut out the middleman and get you to book directly with them.
• The integration of Quicktext Velma at Le Boutique Hotel Moxa demonstrated how AI can transform hotel operations by boosting direct bookings, enhancing guest experiences, and providing operational efficiencies.

This access enables IHG to tune and update its applications, powered by Google’s models, to ensure optimal performance. According to Deloitte, generative AI travel agents will grow in popularity in coming years, with travelers turning to the technology to book trips that are optimized for pricing, loyalty memberships and cancellation policies. The partnership aims to enhance the booking and planning experience, something IHG sees as “critical” to guest loyalty and engagement. Oman’s ministry of heritage and tourism plans to implement 40 projects for boosting adventure tourism in the country. The projects include developing a cable car in the Botanical Garden and installing zip lines in Wadi Darbat in Dhofar for the khareef season.

This increased efficiency not only enhances the customer experience but also enables Priceline to stay nimble and competitive in a fast-moving digital landscape. Another significant transformation expected is in the way travel agencies operate. While traditional travel agents may have been eclipsed by online platforms over the last decade, AI-powered agents like Penny could lead to a resurgence in personalized travel planning. Unlike human agents who are limited by time and availability, Penny can handle multiple customer queries simultaneously, offering tailored advice and making real-time adjustments to bookings. “Penny has the potential to bring back a level of personalization that we haven’t seen since the days of traditional travel agencies—only this time, it’s powered by AI,” Keller said.

For over 40 years Maestro’s Diamond Plus Service has provided unparalleled 24/7 North American based support and education services to keep hospitality groups productive and competitive. Additionally, our experts are also skilled in deploying AI applications that can transform guest experiences and streamline backend operations for your business. We can help you develop smart systems for personalized room environments, efficient data processing software for strategic decisions, and AI chatbots for real-time customer service enhancements. A 2023 global survey of hotel chains indicates that artificial intelligence is expected to lead innovation in the industry over the next two years. This is due to AI’s significant potential in personalizing guest experiences and optimizing hotel operations. By implementing AI, hotels can expect to enhance guest satisfaction, improve efficiency, reduce costs, and drive revenue growth with the help of more dynamic pricing and occupancy management strategies.

The question is, how will we come up with what the fair way is so that we can best decide on how we handle all the different stakeholders in travel? Because it’s not just the suppliers, it’s not just the travelers, and not just people like us, who are helping to arrange it all; it’s the people who live in these neighborhoods. So, we have a lot of things to think about, as travel continues to increase in popularity, which it will. We’ll have to think about those consequences and, hopefully, think long enough ahead that we can come up with the smart ways to handle it in a fair way.

Warren Dehan is the President of Maestro, the preferred Web Browser based cloud and on-premises all-in-one PMS solution for independent hotels, luxury resorts, conference centers, vacation rentals, and multi-property groups. You can foun additiona information about ai customer service and artificial intelligence and NLP. Maestro’s Support Service provides unparalleled 24/7 North American based live support and education services. IHG Hotels & Resorts is partnering with Google to create an AI-powered trip planning tool, set to launch in the second half of the year within the One Rewards mobile app. The initial focus of the tool will be on the ‘dreaming phase’ of travel, helping users find inspiration for their trips. Built using Google’s Vertex AI and Gemini model, the tool aims to offer personalized recommendations and integrate third-party services for a comprehensive travel planning experience.

Marriott’s AI Chatbots

“We believe GenAI will lower our customer service costs per transaction over time and improve the customer experience,” Fogel said. We’re nowhere near that, which is unfortunate because we do need it badly. I mean, look at what just happened the last couple of days, where things go down, people are upset, and customer service numbers go off the charts. Then you have to try and figure out, “Okay, how are we going to fix this? ” and it requires a lot of humans to do it as opposed to the AI. Back in the day, this never came up, and now it starts to come up.

Easyway last September released an AI-powered chatbot for guests, which hotels can integrate into messaging apps like Whatsapp. The chatbot generates a response that draws on specific data from the hotel as well as information about specific bookings, such as the guest’s name. The tool also included two-way translation for more than 100 languages. Duve says it aims to provide personalized guest experiences with tech for check-in, a guest app in different languages, and the ability to make relevant sales offers. This evolution may potentially lead to an increased volume of bookings originating from chat interactions as opposed to traditional search-based bookings. AI’s data analysis capabilities let travel companies offer dynamic pricing packages based on factors such as demand, competitor pricing and availability of flights or hotels.

For travel companies, AI poses many new opportunities and advantages. According to a report from Skift Research, using generative AI in travel is set to be a $28 billion opportunity for the travel sector. Sabre started the G-Blitz competition — where Concierge.AI was born — in 2021. Participants from across Sabre’s six main offices worldwide select teams of around five people, and they’ve given free reign to develop and pitch a product within one of three categories. The project can be focused on tech or a new idea around policy or market approach. Generative AI is still young, but some travel companies are encouraging workers to experiment as they determine how the tech will be used in the future.

Adding a chatbot provides information to potential guests and can encourage more guest bookings and create conversations. Scheduling and training processes are becoming streamlined; revenue management has improved optimizations, and SEO and marketing strategies rely on AI to enhance online visibility. Chatbots are used for customer service and exist with many hotel providers today. I thought I understood that trend, but Glenn’s view is that it’s actually an outlier. Even the biggest chains in the world, he said — your Marriotts and your Hyatts —  benefit from online travel managers like Booking because the world is so big and complicated.

Priceline’s collaboration with OpenAI and the development of Penny mark a bold step forward in AI-driven travel innovation. By leveraging cutting-edge conversational AI technologies, Priceline is reshaping how travelers plan and book their trips, offering an unprecedented level of convenience, personalization, and efficiency. “At Priceline, we’ve always pushed technological boundaries to make travel easier. With Penny, we’re taking that to the next level,” Keller emphasized.

• During first quarter earnings call over the past month, internet stock analysts at Jefferies found that AI was mentioned most often by executives in the travel subsector, followed by e-commerce companies.
• “The future of travel is here, and it’s powered by AI,” Keller remarked confidently.
• In the end, this means that as further druggies interact with it, the better it will emerge.
• They aimed to provide a more personalized booking experience and improve operational efficiency.
• If ChatGPT drives gains for Saudi’s largest travel player, companies worldwide will take note.
• At Booking.com, I’m the one who’s responsible for that, so I guess I have conversations with myself about that.

AI can also analyze lesser-known data points, such as social media posts or images. One of those teams developed an idea for a customer-service chatbot, and the pitch to Sabre executives went smoothly. Mollick believes AI will evolve into General Purpose Technology—once-in-a-generation technology that touches every industry and aspect of life, like steam power or the internet. Standalone tools take even more time to develop, whether they’re AI-native applications or are integrated into existing software. To dispense accurate, hotel-specific information, the LLM’s knowledge base must be supplemented with contextual information from an external data source like the hotel’s guest directory, PMS, or CRM.

The agreement provides a framework to develop customized promotions, joint marketing campaigns, and promotion through loyalty programs. IHG currently operates 37 hotels across five brands in Saudi Arabia. With 31 hotels in the development pipeline set to open within the next three to five years, the hotel company plans to add over 10,000 rooms to its portfolio in the country. United Arab Emirates-based Azizi Developments has announced its plans to invest up to $16 billion through the launch of 50 upmarket, luxury hotels and resorts and one seven-star hotel in Dubai. The developer plans to add nearly 20,000 new keys to Dubai’s hotel stock over the next five years.

In the hospitality industry, AI agents can be utilized in several areas. Marketing teams can use AI agents to analyze customer data and create targeted campaigns based on guest preferences and behavior. Sales teams can employ AI agents to respond to customer inquiries and make personalized recommendations for accommodations and other services. Revenue management teams can benefit from AI agents that analyze pricing and demand data in real time, adjusting room rates to maximize revenue. Operations teams can leverage AI agents to schedule housekeeping and maintenance services, optimizing efficiency and guest satisfaction. Artificial intelligence in hospitality refers to the use of machine learning, data analytics, and other smart technologies to enhance guests’ experiences and improve hotels’ operational efficiency.

IHG first wants to ensure the core of the tool is valuable, with as few bugs as possible. “You should expect a lot more in the travel space, which is why it’s important to get moving,” Tharp said. This is the first announcement that Google is making about a hospitality company integrating its generative AI tech, according to Carrie Tharp, vice president of strategic industries for Google Cloud. Throughout the entire 2023, out of 280,622 conversations, around 261K were automatically handled by the HiJiffy virtual assistant without the need for a human agent.

IHG first tapped Google Cloud as its cloud provider in 2022, when the company migrated some of its data to a serverless data warehouse. It decided to deepen its relationship with Google Cloud for AI innovation based on the tech provider’s suite of consumer products and services that IHG believes will further personalize the traveler experience. One of the key customer service challenges for hotels is responding to questions quickly and artificial intelligence now provides an additional option for tackling this problem. Moreover, it has the capacity to assist with tasks like data analysis and, through data collection, can effectively “learn” and adapt to customer interactions.

But keep in mind — the more specific users are with their requests, the better information the chatbot will provide. Amadeus detailed plans to incorporate Gen AI into a new chatbot for its business intelligence suite, debuting with Agency360+. The Amadeus Advisor chatbot by Azure OpenAI Service builds on the partnership between the two technology companies to foster collaboration across the travel industry.

They use predictive analytics and past interactions to make educated decisions about responding to new conversations. Unlike science-fiction novels, the most effective robots in hospitality will not be walking around, but they will be interacting directly with guests. Predictive analytics has become the ultimate prescription for an industry needing additional support, and the hotel property-management system is the gateway to deliver and manage all AI-generated data for improved guest communications.

Cendyn: Phoenix Ranks as Top Market Selected by Meeting Planners

That puts the latest version of Bard in direct competition with ChatGPT Plus, which has a marketplace of more than 200 third-party plugins that users can enable to access real-time information when interacting with the chatbot. While some experts believe that the large online travel agencies likely will be the biggest winners after implementing generative AI, some expect other travel companies will aim to take advantage in a similar way as TUI Group is attempting. So far, those projects have included a tool to predict demand for inflight meals, meant to help minimize food waste. The company is already working on a tool to automate the classification of customer feedback from online and offline channels, meant to improve service speed and response. Accor Hotels said it is releasing a new AI trip planning assistant powered by generative AI, with plans to integrate it into the company’s booking platform, ALL.com.

Francis previously said that he expects the nature of search to change in the future, with uniquely rendered homepages based on the intent and habits of individual customers. While this technology is still in development, experts have said that large companies like Booking are more likely to have success with these types of AI planners because they already have access to large swaths of data. “The technology will streamline the booking process down to a matter of minutes, while increasing conversion rate and revenues and reducing call volumes at Accor’s contact center,” Accor said in a statement.

Arival’s latest Affluent Traveller report indicates middle-income travellers, once the backbone of the experience industry, have significantly reduced their spending, “perhaps reflecting broader economic pressures and a shrinking middle class”. Today, hotels in 76 countries are using Quicktext and Velma’s AI Hotel chatbot. In fact, data is considered more valuable than any other business asset, including cash.

Thailand has introduced a new joint tourist visa programme with Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Malaysia, facilitating seamless travel. The programme includes a proposed extension for the Destination Thailand Visa, allowing stays of up to 180 days. An Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system will expedite the visa application process.

This move is part of a broader strategy to integrate AI across the company, aiming to simplify the booking process and offer direct, reliable information. TUI Group’s approach contrasts with online travel agencies by focusing on its own stock of products, aiming to enhance customer experience and internal productivity through AI innovations. ai hotel chatbot The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the hospitality sector is reshaping how hotels operate, enhancing guest experiences, improving operational efficiencies, and even bolstering their sustainability efforts. From smart room technology to AI-powered concierge services, the industry is witnessing a transformative shift.

The AI Revolution in Hospitality: Transforming the Hotel Industry through Innovation and Employee Empowerment

Like when we came out of the pandemic, there was that revenge travel surge, which is fantastic. But the truth is, I know that that couldn’t possibly last because in the end, we’re going to end up in a long-term run where travel goes slightly better than GDP. Now, on top of that, our job is to get a bigger share of that, and we have benefits of scale and capabilities that enable us to do that.

In conclusion, the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the hospitality sector represents a paradigm shift, not just in operational efficiencies and guest services, but also in shaping future industry standards. AI readiness is crucial for hotels aiming to stay competitive and innovative. This involves assessing current technological infrastructure, preparing staff through training and development, and establishing a strategic plan that aligns AI ChatGPT integration with business goals. Being AI-ready enables hotels to leverage technology effectively, ensuring a seamless transition and maximizing the benefits of AI-driven solutions. “Rose” is an AI chatbot that acts as a personal concierge at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Known for her witty and playful tone, Rose handles tasks from restaurant reservations to timely delivery of towels, enhancing the guest experience through rapid and personalized service.

The offering gives advertisers access to an in-house creative team, advertising tools that target high-intent travelers, offsite capabilities through YouTube and connected TV and access to Expedia Group’s global network and scale. Unlike humans, robots are able to work 24 hours a day, which means providing service overnight when staffing is reduced, or in some cases when no concierge staff is available as the front desk is closed. They can also assist customers by assisting them in their native language. For extremely touristy areas this is a significant advantage as it ensures no miscommunications and the customer is assisted promptly.It’s important to note that robots will never fully replace humans. Both robots and humans aren’t perfect; if a robot breaks down or experiences some sort of malfunction, a human will be needed to assist.

To automatically have the recommendations saved, users should be logged in to their Expedia profile so the hotel options are added directly to their Trip Planning Board. Expedia’s ChatGPT plug-in and its existing hotel search function both pull from Expedia’s proprietary hotel data—the only difference is whether you want a conversational experience or to use traditional search methods. Shanghai, China – Hilton today announced the result of a month-long competition for the design of its new AI chatbot cartoon character – part of a bid to give “life” to its newly launched AI customer service chatbot with a personable animated avatar.

“At the pace of which we’re moving, I think you’re going to have to make a decision sooner rather than later, and I think it’s first-mover advantage right now because everyone will be forced into it,” Jordaan said. Cathay is also developing a tech training program with AWS, with plans to train 1,000 employees, including senior managers, in the next three years. France-based Accor says it encompasses more than 40 hotel brands totaling 5,500 properties in 110 countries. AI is especially valuable for complex tasks like reconciling revenue from multiple disparate sources. Work that would take several days for humans can be completed by AI in a matter of minutes, with any discrepancies highlighted so they can be addressed. RPA can take over repetitive tasks, undertaking them more rapidly and with fewer errors.