AI in tourism enables the all-important element of personalization to make customer journeys shorter, and more memorable. We share four examples of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in the travel industry, with key takeaways for marketers to get started on implementation.
The evolution of digital technologies has transformed customer expectations from every service provider. Whether it’s in banking, healthcare, or even travel & tourism, your customers now want a Netflix-like customer experience (CX), no matter the touchpoint. This has also impacted the travel industry, which was quick to adapt and build tools for precisely that level of personalization.
Web portals, mobile apps, and social media allow travel customers a whole new level of convenience – causing a 10.4% rise in digital travel sales Opens a new window between 2017 and 2018, reaching a massive USD 694.41 billion.
But are your marketing strategies keeping up with customer expectations? With so many travelers thronging online portals, are individual experiences adequately tailored and personalized?
This is where Artificial Intelligence (AI) Opens a new window comes in. AI in tourism offers travel marketers an effective way to cut through the online clutter, provide value, and ensure their brand messaging resonates (and stays) with the customer.
Here are four examples of brands that have effectively used AI in tourism, helping marketers reach their desired goals without getting drowned out in the noise.
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#1. Holland America Brings AI to the Offline Space
We are all familiar with how AI can take a customer’s parameters and churn out the most fitting results on an online travel aggregating (OTA) portal. However, AI in tourism isn’t just limited to online channels. Leading cruise line, Holland America, did something very different Opens a new window with the technology when it extended its AI and ML application beyond the web. Data from the ship’s passengers was run through an ML algorithm, predicting the daily itinerary best suited to each traveler. This generated a PDF in natural language so the crew could take a printout and share it with them.
As a result, passengers were able to access unique and personalized trip itineraries every day of their cruise, significantly improving CX. Instead of a one-size-fits-all model, with the same activities presented to every traveler, this innovative use of machine learning in the travel industry brought Netflix-like personalization to the offline world, with great results.
#2. Booking.com Embeds AI at Every Moment of Truth
The leading Over-the-Air programming (OTA) platform, Booking.com, realized that a fragmented and extended customer journey leads to drop-offs before purchases are completed. In fact, overlong customer journeys are a major problem for the tourism industry, with travelers taking a while to plan a week-long or even a short weekend trip.
Booking.com chose to solve this by implementing AI in its travel marketing strategyOpens a new window . The company was already known for using AI in its backend processes, such as network security and customer service. The AI application was expanded to a live messenger called “Look to Book.â€
The Look to Book bot can talk to customers and guide them through reservations and special requests. 60% of all queries can be answered in minutes, drastically cutting down the duration of the customer journey and accelerating conversion. This makes perfect sense given that 56% of customers are expected to frequently interact with AI travel agents by 2022, according to PwCOpens a new window .
Finally, Booking.com went a step further, using AI to personalize their web content, starting from the order in which it was arranged, down to specific room rates.
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#3. Hopper Uses AI to Notify When to Book – And When Not to Book – Flights
Your customers probably receive tens of emailers every week, with notifications of a new package, hotel promotion, or price drop. How do you stand out in this flurry of information overload?
Flight booking app, HopperOpens a new window , took a creative approach to solve this problem — notifying customers when NOT to book a flight instead. The app’s AI-driven recommendation engine predicts when the price of a flight is likely to rise (the worst time to buy) and when it is poised for a dip (the best time to buy).
Another intelligent use of AI in tourism marketing is Hopper’s focus on destination discovery. Instead of starting with a location and curating a price list, Hopper displays the lowest airfares for all destinations a customer is likely to visit. This is a great way for leisure travelers to discover new destinations in their budgets, ones they might not have known before.
#4. BCG Transforms a Travel Marketing Fundamental Using AI: Email Marketing
Email marketing is the go-to marketing strategy for most travel and tourism marketers. However, it is difficult to communicate a message when it is marked as spam or overlooked for its lack of personalization.
BCG collaborated with a global airlineOpens a new window for a critical implementation of machine learning in the travel industry. The company received high data volumes from customers — but was unable to convert this into a substantial email open rate. BCG understood that without machine learning, it would be impossible to convert over 3,000 variables into effective personalization.
They built and tested several machine learning predictive models that factored in parameters such as customer information, booking data, and insights from third-party databases. The project led to double the open rates than the control group, unlocking a 10% revenue uptick.
Learn More: 3 Ways Travel Marketers Can Improve their Email StrategiesOpens a new window
Key Takeaways for Marketers: How to Get Started with AI in Tourism
AI can be a complex technology, with endless implementation opportunities. From web experiences to conversational interfaces, and email marketing to price optimization, it could transform every facet of the customer journey. However, it is important that as a marketer, you are not overwhelmed by its vast range of possibilities. Instead,
- Start with a single channel and a singular dataset
- Apply this to a standalone decision-making area
- Carefully review how AI is making a difference via control group tests (or A/B testsOpens a new window )
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Remember, implementing AI in tourism will need a massive cultural shift from traditional operating models. From an on-demand service provider, AI can help you re-envision your brand as an “always-on travel buddy,†helping customers navigate the many options out there.
What matters is this: conduct thorough research on how AI can help your brand’s core value proposition, link the application to a specific element in the customer experience ecosystem, and consistently offer an easier way of doing things.
In an age of ever-increasing clutter, convenience, simplicity and personalization will be a massive differentiator for travel and tourism brands and indeed, all brands.
Do you plan to leverage AI in your tourism marketing strategy? Tell us on LinkedInOpens a new window , FacebookOpens a new window , or TwitterOpens a new window .