Artificial Intelligence has entered the tourism industry for good. It can make it easier for many, especially when it comes to planning and organizing the trip. “Tomorrow I want to go for a bike ride from this point. It should last a maximum of three hours and the children can also play outside. In the end, we want to eat a delicious ice cream.” Travelers can hardly find ways to take such simple walks if they don’t have a tour guide with them or a tourist information booth nearby. Finding relevant suggestions on Google may also not be a simple task. The information they will find is not always valid and up-to-date. They might go, for example, to an ice cream parlor that ends up being closed, as Michael Prange, professor of data science at the Kiel University of Applied Sciences, explains.

“Smart” programming with AI

The German expert, however, is convinced that with the help of Artificial Intelligence, travel planning will become increasingly easier. Because in the future each of us will have a “smart” travel planner in our pocket – for example as an app on our mobile phone. Of course, how well such applications will work depends largely on how reliable the information available will be.

The German Tourism Organization (DZT) is trying to create a single database about tourism in Germany. “Global sales platforms are already leveraging Artificial Intelligence in order to find the right travel offers for their customers and promote them in a targeted manner,” says Petra Hendorfer, Chairman of the Board of DZT.

“AI will affect everything”

The great importance of a database with Artificial Intelligence applications is also emphasized by Tobias Blask, professor of Economics at Harts University of Applied Sciences. “This is an industry that remains completely underdeveloped,” says the professor. And tourism providers, as well as destinations that want to become or stay known, will have to consider how they will own their data, as well as how they will optimize it. “The developments are rapid. And artificial intelligence will affect everything in our society,” he says.

When it comes to planning a trip, applications with Artificial Intelligence technologies could bring the revolution: “If I plan my trip and if I can be helped by an Artificial Intelligence that understands what I’m looking for and is properly trained, then why should I rely on a tourist office?’

In the future, business travelers will also be able to benefit from AI applications – for example when it comes to travel planning or simply changing a reservation in case of an emergency. “Suppose I miss the train,” Blask says. “It’s much better for someone else to find an alternative and just let me know before running it.”

Chatbots are used very often

However, AI applications are not new to the tourism industry. Many businesses use such technologies to shape their pricing, and chatbots are the ones that perform the first steps in a customer’s service process, before a human takes over – and that’s not always the case. The same is happening to DZT, which is now also planning the creation of digital influencers, i.e. artificially constructed figures, which will act as advertising tools.

Another example is the beach of Sarboj on the Baltic Sea, near the city of Lübeck. There are… “beach lights”, which regulate how many people can be on the beach when there are too many people in one part of it. This technology uses sensor measurements that record the number of visitors and can also make estimates for the coming hours and days, taking into account data about the weather and whether it is a weekday or a weekend, for example. It then analyzes this data with the help of an algorithm.

“Surprises are part of the holidays”

Eric Horster, a professor at the Department of International Tourism Management at Westküste University of Applied Sciences, however, doubts whether Artificial Intelligence will fundamentally change the way we travel. “I’m not sure if that’s something visitors really want,” he says. After all, tourism also lives from communication with people. This is why the good old tourist information kiosks still exist.

Moreover, the surprises that may arise, the unexpected, the authentic, are also part of the holidays. “So the future of travel is to know everything in advance?” Have everything planned down to the last detail?’ Instead one could just keep cycling and see where an ice cream shop is open…

Edited by: Giorgos Passas