Hotel & Tourism SMARTreport #45

INNOVATIONS & TECHNOLOGIES
Hotel & Tourism
SMARTreport #45
2020 Winter Edition 35
35
© iStock Photo - Ekkasit919
WHEN
ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE
BRINGS
REAL-LIFE
ADVANTAGES
In the month of January every year, for a period of
three days, Las Vegas becomes the capital of hightech.
And for the first time, the travel sector has
been singled out for attention.
It’s true that many travel companies use virtual
assistants to answer questions, facial recognition
software to read customer sentiment and virtual
reality to tour venues, among other advanced
technological functions.
So, the question is asked, “In a saturated market,
are artificial intelligence and VR the only way to
stay competitive?” One conference session at
CES spotlighted how artificial intelligence
is changing daily routines, responding
to commands, anticipating needs and
taking action when needed.
One of the speakers, Carnival Cruise
Line’s Chief Experience Officer John
Padgett (designer of the Ocean
Medallion), said AI was the only way
to power guest experiences based on
the massive quantity of information
being created by these connected
devices on-ship. In the end, the
key is for all the technology to
be invisible, and for the guest
experience to improve across the
board.
In the next pages, we take a closer
look at AI, along with the brave
new world of robotics, and the
great advances being made in
the field of translation devices
(yes, also based on AI!).