Bolstering tourism

With tourism expected to create 50 million jobs in India by 2028, artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies can play a critical role in promoting this ever-growing industry particularly with more and more travellers seeking personalised services.

"We are now at the cusp of time when artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology will be playing a big role in India. Now AI in travel and tourism is being used to predict travel choices, personalise services, complete bookings and manage pre-trip and post-trip needs", according to Saurabh Sharma, founder and director, Travel Unravel Holiday.

Few of the trends that are picking fast in India are: airlines deploying AI to deal with social media inquiries, hotel operators, altering their dinner menu after AI analysed guest reviews and so on. Also, the luggage management has been eased with the introduction of blockchain technology, while streamlining the entire process with the seamless flow, he said.

Travel requires repeated scrutiny of travel documents by different sets of people. There are complex embarkation and disembarkation processes. Facial recognition technology promises to bring an end to these tiresome paper-bound processes.

With facial recognition, travellers can seamlessly move through airports, immigration, customs and board aircraft without the need for having travel documents scrutinised at each step. Plus, the digital interactions that are conversational and voice-based assistants that are personal are few of the future trends that the industry is looking up for incorporation, Sharma said.

With the introduction of these technologies now travellers can plan where they want to go, compare options, weigh budgets and make bookings and cancellations through conversational apps that reduce the amount of interaction otherwise needed.

The industry estimated that by this year-end, 12 per cent to 15 per cent of all new jobs in travel and tourism, in India, could be created by transitioning to a seamless passenger journey and the use of technology and biometrics solutions in addition to infrastructure investment.

This included making existing terminal facilities and processes more efficient, streamlined, more secure and seamless. Travel and tourism industry will contribute to 25 per cent of the global job creation while, as per industry estimations, India alone will add around 10 million jobs in the travel and tourism sector by 2028.

Personalisation is the key to promoting tourism as 57 per cent of travellers feel that brands should tailor their information based on personal preferences or past behaviours. If a travel brand does the same, 36 per cent of the consumers are likely to pay more for these customised services. This is an area were artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies can come in handy.

Spotting the trend of personalised experiences, Insight Vacations, a global leader in premium guided vacations is coming out with packages that make travel a luxury and memorable. There are however challenges, said Anthony Lim, the Asian Managing Director of Insight Vacations and Luxury Gold, the brands of The Travel Corporation (TTC).

Every year, "we are adding four to five new experiences. We always strive to innovate and come out with new products. The testimony to our success is that we have a repeat ratio of 52 per cent customers every year," he told DNA Money.

Insight Vacations is new in the Indian market; we are targeting to grow by 30 per cent in 2019. Currently, The Travel Corporation is serving over two million customers globally per year. The focus is on India as it being the most emerging market in Asia currently.

On the Indian trends, Lim said 11 per cent of our groups are solo travellers. Solo travelling is increasing every year. Winter destinations like Scandinavian countries are new favourite destinations for Indian travellers.

Rajeev Kohli, Joint Managing Director, Signature Tours said travel is no longer a luxury. It is a necessity and way of life for most. People have been attuned to travel in both good and bad times. Neither the demonetisation in 2017 nor the switch to the GST regime in 2018, saw a significant drop in travel. What could happen is patterns of travel may change. Some may decide to go closer than further or take shorter trips. But travel will still happen.

Travellers are increasingly more comfortable with mobile devices for bookings. In the US, data shows that 26 per cent of travel searches in the fourth quarter of last year occurred on a mobile device. In other parts of the world, it's even higher: Travel searches conducted on a mobile device totalled 47 per cent in Europe; 40 per cent in Asia; 38 per cent in the Middle East and Africa; and 34 per cent in Latin America. Over 1 in 3 travellers across countries are interested in using digital assistants to research or book travel, and they're already searching for everything from hotels to flights, and things to do in-destination.

This is a major reason that artificial intelligence and blockchain technology will play a major role in promoting tourism in the coming years. 

(The views expressed are strictly personal)