This app is an artificial intelligence program that has been trained to write text autonomously. It has been designed to generate text in a natural and coherent way, similar to how a human writes. It is used to create automatic responses, narrative text and conversations for chatbots. It is advanced technology that helps to make conversations with computers more similar to those with people.
Artificial intelligence can improve the tourism industry in various ways, for example by enhancing the travelers’ experience with chatbots.  

Here are some examples: 

• 24/7 assistance: Chatbots can provide information and assistance to customers at any time, even outside of human operators’ working hours. 
• Bookings and information: Chatbots can help customers book flights, hotels, and activities, providing information on availability, prices, and special offers. 
• Personalized recommendations: Chatbots can use machine learning to provide personalized recommendations to customers based on their preferences and needs. 
• Language: Chatbots can communicate with customers in multiple languages, making the interaction smoother and more accessible to a global audience. 
• Cost reduction: Chatbots can help reduce customer service costs, as they can handle a large number of requests simultaneously and automate many tasks. 
• Data analysis: Chatbots can gather and analyze user data to help companies better understand their customers and provide an even more personalized and targeted service. 
• Seamless interaction: Chatbots can provide a seamless experience for users, allowing them to continue the conversation across different channels like SMS, Email, Social Media. 
• Customer satisfaction: The ability to offer quick and personalized assistance can increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. 

This is what we wrote in 2017 on this topic, imagining the era of BOTA, a neologism that we coined by combining Chatbot and O.T.A, and envisioning the use of this technology to create greater value in the distribution chain of the tourism industry. 

IT’S TIME FOR BOTA!

Technology and a good dose of creativity can create room for new solutions and, in particular, new brands

Artificial intelligence and robots are catching on in the Travel & Tourism industry, starting to change users’ behaviour, services and, above all, business models. The robot which serves meals in hotels is here. Its name is AURA, it is owned by M Social, and we can find it in Singapore. Nowadays we can also find robots in airports, in particular in Asian ones, and are able to provide several services, from the check-in to giving information. Robots are increasingly being developed in other sectors, too. Recently, eMarketer realised a survey in the USA and UK, discovering that more than 90% of respondents thinks that being able to chat with the hotel is very useful. Perhaps this is the reason why, in February, Mercure launched a BOT for Messenger, following Expedia, Kayak and Skyscanner, which has also signed an interesting deal with Skype. There are many new startups, such as SnapTravel, HelloHipmunk, Mezi, KimKim, Pana or BoltFare… and the list would be longer than this.
Many groups of users, especially the youngest ones, think that chats are a very immediate and efficient tool, and we can expect that their usage will be unrestrained. In fact, it is perceived as quick, discrete (if compared to voice assistants) and, in particular, it fits into the mobile trend, which definitely became the most used tool for online researches and will soon become the preferred one for booking. We are already observing new distribution business models based on chatbots, actual mobile-focused OTAs, namely chatbOTAs… that we are going to call BOTAs! In fact, in spite of the consolidation phase which saw the rise of integrated colossus in the USA, such as Expedia, Priceline and Aribnb and in China, such as Ctrip and Alibaba, technology and a good dose of creativity can create room for new solutions and, in particular, new brands.

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L'articolo How Artificial Intelligence is Improving Tourists’ Experience proviene da Twissen.

1. The Macro-Travel Trend
“The urge to travel is a stronger force than rising inflation”. Travel, indeed, turns out to be essential to people mental health. Proactive hoteliers are exploiting this desire to travel by providing customers with personalised communication to boost profits and enhance the customers’ experience with ancillary services.

2. The Digital Influence Trend
43% of travellers is influenced by social media when booking a stay, especially in the case of urban travellers belonging to Gen Z and Millennials. Also according to The 2022 Digital Transformation Report by Skift, digital transformations will drive travellers’ choices and experience in the future.
But, if the “before” and “during the journey” phases are more and more important in tourism strategies, the “post-stay” is still not being taken into consideration as it should. SiteMinder data shows us that travellers welcome contact at all stages of the guest journey, especially in the case of luxury hotels.  

3. The Bleisure Trend 
Among bleisure travellers, it turns out that 49% belongs to Gen Z, followed by Millennials. Considering this, we also need to keep in mind that one billion digital nomads are projected to be in the global workforce by 2035, it is therefore necessary for accommodation providers to be more appealing for this segment by providing the so-called “hotel of the future”. Promoting deals and hotel packages designed specifically for working travellers and based on a deep analysis of the target’s needs, would be a proper way to take advantage of this trend. 

4. The Trust Trend 
“Every digital touchpoint matters for the new trust-critical traveller”. As we already highlighted in a previous article, trust and human-centric approach are becoming the key to build confidence and increase customer loyalty. Two topics are fundamental in the case of the hotel industry:  
a. Metaverse: more than 70% of all travellers would ‘likely’ or ‘definitely’ pre-visit their property in the metaverse before check-in if they had the opportunity to; 
b. E-commerce experience: investing in secure payment processes can create significant advantages both in terms of brand perception and efficiency. The percentage of consumers who prefer to pay online varies depending on age and place of origin: 71% of Chinese travellers prefer to pay online, 56% of Italians would choose the in-person payment, while in the USA both methods are chosen. Regardless of the preferred payment option, what matters is that for 57% of interviewed travellers “an easy and secure booking and payment process is the top priority when choosing whether to book via a property’s website”. 

5. The Human Connection Trend 
“Tech-enabled travellers are not willing to compromise on human connection”. Technology, indeed, is not here to substitute the real and human experience, but to facilitate and enhance the customer journey management as well as create new opportunities for businesses to monetise.  

At Twissen we observed that, also due to the acceleration linked to the pandemic, accommodation providers must enter the digital era with a clear strategy, especially now that we are already considering the future implementation of the metaverse. However, we also have to keep in mind the most important lesson we learned during the past biennium: the human factor is what matters most, since staff and customer service are one of main reasons why travellers become loyal customers. Thus, resources should be allocated on both sides: technology as well as training.  

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L'articolo 5 accommodation trends to keep in mind in 2023 proviene da Twissen.

In the Travel & Tourism industry, as we have highlighted in our previous articles, tourism destinations and hotels will be able to manage the relationship with the customer-tourist in new ways, opening up to new interactions before, during and after the journey, exploring new opportunities for monetisation and value creation.  

To achieve this, a change of paradigm will be necessary. Starting with entrepreneurs, managers or hoteliers, key people in the industry will have to turn into meta-entrepreneurs, a neologism first coined by Twissen in relation to the topic.  

A new generation of business leaders will be able to innovate and, while continuing to develop business in the ‘real’ world, leverage the technologies offered by the metaverse with new revenue and value creation opportunities for their stakeholders.  

Meta-entrepreneurs will have to equip their companies from the outset with a meta-strategy accompanied by a precise business model, dosing their resources well at each stage of receiving this new wave from the market.  

Technology, all of which already exists, will be the defining element. Graphics, fluidity and security, for example, will position the business project in the metaverse. 

Finally, training will be a strategic element since, although there will always be, fortunately, operators who welcome tourists in the real world, and they will need lifelong training, there will be a new class of employees who will operate in the virtual world and who will have to learn, for example, specific hospitality techniques.  

We at Twissen have observed that, although it still takes time for the market to be fully receptive, there are several activities that can be completed in the virtual platform, such as business meetings, training or previews of hotel rooms. It is highly recommended to approach this trend already now in order not to be caught off guard when the market is ready and receptive.  

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L'articolo The time has come for meta-entrepreneurs, even in tourism proviene da Twissen.

This call for proposals will be part of the overall COVID-19 recovery strategy for a sustainable tourism ecosystem and in particular aim at equipping and empowering SMEs in their twin transition (green and digital transition) efforts in line with the Tourism Transition Pathway. 

The action aims to guide the forward-looking recovery of the tourism ecosystem by providing support, including with the intermediary of consortia of organisations of the relevant tourism industry stakeholders, to the digital and green transformation of tourism companies, particularly SMEs, and boosting innovation, resilience, sustainability and quality along the tourism value chain.  

The expected impacts are: 

1. Enhanced resilience and competitiveness of tourism SMEs through better uptake of sustainability principles innovation, digital tools and data and through improved capacity to consider, assess and follow the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of tourism services and activities;
2. New business models in tourism building on digitalisation, new technologies, sustainability, circularity, authentic and cultural experiences, and engagement of local communities;
3. Enhanced cooperation along the tourism value chain;
4. Improved transnational and cross-border cooperation, knowledge transfer and peer learning;
5. Support to recovery of the tourism ecosystem from COVID-19 crisis by developing and sharing best practices for recovery investments with long-term effects for green and digital transition.

At Twissen we observe that major incentives call for more complex projects. Therefore, the degree of specificity required in project design and planning are higher. The identification of the project partners becomes even more essential to strive for ambitious and strategic outcomes. 

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L'articolo Latest SMP call invests 20.5 million on tourism proviene da Twissen.

The projects were jointly selected by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and six banks, including the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China.

The projects are expected to receive a total investment of around 620 billion yuan (95.7 billion U.S. dollars) and around 233 billion yuan worth of funds, according to the ministry.

Some of the projects have already been implemented and gained credit support, the ministry said.

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L'articolo Chinese banks pump investment to boost cultural, tourism industries proviene da Twissen.

In 2018 European Commission will support the European Year for Cultural Heritage through Creative Europe Programme. This initiative is aimed at celebrating the cultural heritage that characterises Europe, in order to promote what the European Union can do for its conservation, digitalisation, skills development and to protect it from the international conflicts’ threats.

In order to support the initiative, the European Cultural Tourism Network (ECTN) organised the event “Sustainable Cultural Tourism. European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 and beyond“, which will be held on November 30th in Brussels at EU Info Centre in Rue Archimede from 9 to 13. This event is addressed to cultural heritage and tourism organisations and stakeholders to exploit synergies and cooperation opportunities regarding sustainable cultural tourism development and promotion in Europe, with emphasis on the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 and EU co-funding programmes. Potential actions for sustainable cultural tourism will be discussed related to the UN International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017.

At Twissen we are observing that tourists are demanding cultural experiences once at destinations, and aggregators, such as Musement and Viator, are promoting a growing number of these products. Moreover, we recorded a growing interest in supporting a change in policies in favour of a sustainable way of thinking and making tourism. It is a wide spread opinion that the term “sustainable” could be very soon incorporated in “tourism”. Tourist demand is growing and investments in making infrastructures and facilities more sustainable is increasingly engaging both the public and the private sector.

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European Cultural Tourism Network (ECTN) is the pan-European network for Cultural Tourism Development and Promotion, which brings together the tourism and cultural industry professionals working in different regions of Europe to exchange experience and information on best practice and to develop new approaches and innovations. ECTN Members are destinations, authorities, NGOs and research institutes coming from 11 EU Member States and 4 Associate countries.

Francesco Redi

President and founder at Twissen. Manager in Local Development, Tourism Policies,  EU Funds. He cooperates with several European universities, public bodies, development agencies, DMOs and enterprises.

L'articolo Sustainability and heritage in tourism: ECTN’s workshop to exploit synergies proviene da Twissen.