Artificial Intelligence is shaping the future for tourism industry

New Delhi: Artificial intelligence is bringing in paradigm change in the travel and tourism industry in a way that is benefiting the travellers as well as tour operators, aviation sector and even hospitality.

From identifying patterns in booking behaviors to highlighting the decision-making process for specific demographics to keeping track of luggage, artificial intelligence is proving to be a powerful tool for the travel industry.

"With customers' permission, travel portals can scan their social media activity, building a specific model of their interests, likes, social graphs and information from past travels, purchase behaviors and loyalty programs. They then use this collected data to identify patterns from a wider consumer community and match users with relevant offers. After scanning for the best deals and interpreting other digital behaviors, such as how the person booked in the past, the offer is placed in optimal positioning for conversion," said Kapil Goswamy, CMD, BigBreaks.com.

Travel industry is amid an increasingly rapid and dramatic technological change, poised to revolutionize the way people travel. By collecting massive stores of historical data, events tracking and predictive analytics built from modern machine learning algorithms, travel companies can now effectively predict where and when travelers might want to go, generating custom advertisements automatically and boosting conversions all the way down the sales funnel.

Artificial intelligence makes it possible for travel companies to form highly-customized offers based on buyers' needs and preferences. Past behaviors can be analyzed using sophisticated software to predict future buying actions. Deep rooted algorithms can help travel companies make the most out of their target audience's online activities.

They are now able to understand images, videos and sounds, creating opportunities to better understand travel patterns. Knowing that a person generally takes a vacation in August and has liked pictures from Singapore on Instagram would present a valuable insight for any travel portal or airline.

Moreover, artificial intelligence can also introduce tailored suggestions during an ongoing trip based on the traveler's profile, location and various other dynamic parameters.

What is noteworthy is that the output of all these technical processes helps in bringing a more natural experience to the consumer. When consumers interact with the travel company, artificial intelligence helps in offering a smoother experience. Advanced technology in travel is also helping companies in decision making, managing predictive maintenance and handling disruptions like weather conditions.

"Artificial intelligence is also able to predict which ad space is more likely to generate better conversions. This is making the business of buying and selling ad spaces smarter, making travel companies empowered to target online travelers more efficiently. With the current pace of advancement, the next generation is all set to see a radical transformation in the way it lives, works and travels," concluded Goswamy.