GAV Resorts

Surely, you've already engaged in virtual tourism and perhaps purchased a ticket to experience the real essence of a particular place. Google Maps showed you satellite images of incredible locations, sparking your curiosity. Subsequently, you scheduled your vacation and bought the tickets, and today, you share photos of your adventure, unaware that artificial intelligence (AI) accompanied you on this incredible journey, quite possibly even choosing your activities.

We are just beginning many trips where AI will influence your itinerary, but this won't bother you. This is one of those technologies that will surpass the trendy hype of some past waves. It has been among us for a while, but it has never been as relevant as it will be in the future.

 If data management has been understood as the new gold, do not underestimate the power that large data sources will deliver with the specialization of generative languages used in AI. However, be cautious; AI will assist you only if your data source is reliable, organized, and enriched. Otherwise, it can be very dangerous.

In the tourism world, disruptive forces are being applied with high expectations and significant results. A report from Industry Arci mentioned that this market will need at least $1.2 billion by 2026. Most hotels and resorts heavily rely on providing excellent customer service to build their reputation, and AI technology can assist in various ways, from enhancing personalization and tailoring recommendations to ensuring quick response times, even in the absence of staff, as the study suggests.

The potential applications of AI are not limited to tourists seeking increasingly personalized experiences; they also extend to business processes, reducing operational costs in various sectors and services, such as call centers. In constant adaptations, Customer Service Centers can benefit from a range of automation to better address inquiries, suggest tourist attractions, and reduce resolution time for leisure access-related issues. Using algorithms that perceive satisfaction, excitement, and even customer irritation, they can turn a bad experience into a new opportunity for loyalty. After all, Chatbots and virtual assistants have become integrated into society, and various reports indicate users' growing affinity for voice-command responsive tools. Don't forget to consider that many hotel service users want little contact with administration teams, applying more self-service technologies to these customers will be better, however inhumane this may seem. Consider service optimization and personalization as a strategy in your business.

"Augmented Reality, widely applied in equipment maintenance, architectural designs, and more, has the potential to spark a traveller's interest in places they may not have considered or known, using algorithms that cross information collected from previous acquisitions, hobbies, movies, or music they usually consume and share on social media".

Regarding applications in the hospitality world, we already see AI Concierges acting professionally, smart hotel rooms, personalized communications, predictive supply chains, automated music creation and movie suggestions, and, of course, personalized marketing and advertising for your next trip. Augmented Reality, widely applied in equipment maintenance, architectural designs, and more, has the potential to spark a traveller's interest in places they may not have considered or known, using algorithms that cross information collected from previous acquisitions, hobbies, movies, or music they usually consume and share on social media.

If you are seeking strategies to implement AI in your workspace or in the new business challenges of your corporation, keep two actions in mind:

 First step: Provide your employees with familiarity with the use of AI in what is basic and already available at no cost in the market. Like the low-code tools mentioned in another article, demystifying the various available services will undoubtedly increase productivity.

Second step: Consider the startup mindset, one step at a time, doing only what is known in a controlled environment. Take risks, explore, and and try applying it first in your department, with your team, without fear of making mistakes. As you know, you are taking small steps; do not consider risky investments associated with ROI at this moment.

Once familiarity with what is available and how it is being applied in different sectors is established, it's time to take a few steps forward and think about expanding your technology in future tourism. A structural approach on how to direct AI strategies not only in the tourism sector but in all segments is the "AI Canvas," developed in collaboration with Merantix Labs and the University of St. Galena. This tool guides actions for the conception, implementation, and sustainable deployment of AI projects. Its goal is to align strategic priorities, identify obstacles, and organize data requirements, including regulatory and ethical issues. Its approach is divided into blocks as follows:

• Business Block - Allows companies to identify and evaluate their needs, forming the basis for an AI-based value proposition. It helps define monitoring and success measurement. At this point, you organize information related to the problems AI can address, which users will benefit from, what products to create or follow, business partners, financial and non-financial returns, and the intended investment.

• Technology Block - Data and technology are the key factors enabling the application of AI. Being able to analyze and understand them, along with their limitations, is an essential step in mapping your project. Here, you must relate data, the technology to be used, the governance and compliance allowed, whether there is regulation, and the level of security required.

• Organization Block - The organization block assesses how AI use cases should be integrated into ongoing processes and how to create effective AI development environments. It also needs to highlight what cultural and structural changes need to be initiated in the organization.

• AI Lifecycle Block – Once the strategy is initiated, there will be a need to include long-term integration actions of AI solutions linked to the organization's business strategies in the process. Exercising a long-term vision is crucial for these projects to have sustainable value. The AI Lifecycle Block helps evaluate the continuous use of the AI model.

 With these organized blocks, you can move on to further analysis. The method suggests paying attention to different aspects, making it clear that AI initiatives should not be seen as optional; they need to be quickly listed on the strategic map and considered as business processes that link not only technological but primarily financial results. Some strategists claim that initiatives focused on restructuring business models and corporate management will be primarily driven by two pillars: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and practices related to ESG/Sustainability.

 Conclusion:

Tourist trips have always been associated with experiences of pleasure, discovery, relaxation, and adventure, and they will certainly continue to have these ingredients as a backdrop. If today, AI has been an adventure for many falling in love with it, it will be even more so in the very near future.

 AI has the potential to free up more time for people to focus on their interpersonal relationships in various ways. Perhaps it can finally give humans more time to be more human.

As a typical BlackMirror (TV series) provocation, AI will have an increasingly expanding presence in the next five years, segregating companies and services that do not use it in some part of their journey. It's crucial to study the topic, but don't forget that at the end of the day, your company does things for people, carried out by people, where people achieve goals and deliver what people need. So, it's not about machines or artificial intelligence; it's about people.