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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE With new technology reshaping the workplace and changing the way we do business, two experts discuss the effect artificial intelligence is having on the hospitality industry.
and, through data collection, can effectively “learn” and adapt to customer interactions. Below are other examples.
Pricing Hyperdynamic pricing allows booking engines to automatically search social media, past user data and even world news to display rates that maximize earning potential.
Revenue management predications
DR. JASSIM HAJI President Global Artificial Intelligence Group Back in the 1950s, Minsky and McCarthy described artificial intelligence (AI) as any task performed by a machine that would have previously been considered to require human intelligence. That's obviously a fairly broad definition, which is why you will sometimes see arguments over whether something is truly AI or not.
AI in hospitality AI is playing an increasingly pivotal role in hospitality management, primarily because of its ability to carry out traditionally human functions at any time of the day. Specifically, customer service is a vital part of the travel industry, with hotels’ success rates often based on how they treat their customers. With artificial intelligence, the possibilities for improving this are almost endless, ranging from increased personalization to tailored recommendations. One of the customer service challenges hotels is responding quickly to questions and client requests, and artificial intelligence now provides an additional option for tackling this problem. Furthermore, AI has the capacity to assist with tasks such as data analysis
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HOSPITALITY NEWS ME | JUN - JUL 2021
Energy, water and waste-monitoring tools can help to save the environment. Hotels such as Hilton have been using them for a decade, with no sign of going back.
Feedback It is important to know your customers through the feedback they leave on major hotel review sites, such as Yelp and TripAdvisor. But instead of always going through the process manually, you can use an intelligent tool to do it for you. Machine learning (a subset of AI) makes it easy to automatically collect, store and analyze data from across a variety of online sources.
Chatbot A chatbot is one of the most exceptional ways to ask for feedback from guests after they check out. Chatbots are capable of sending previous guests feedback forms along with some incentives for filling them out. This is an excellent way for hotels to encourage repeat business. Although the hospitality industry is no stranger to chatbots, their importance will only rise. A chatbot can offer travelers updated information on Covid-19 outbreaks, statistics and symptoms. Thanks to AI, guests will increasingly view chatbots as travel assistants rather than obstacles between them and a real-life representative.
Recruitment Recruiters are using machine learning to hire hotel employees in ways that go beyond the outdated resume model. Using personality profiles of existing team members and gamification-based tests, IHG and other top hotel brands have recruited thousands of employees.
Data science Data analysis is another way in which AI is being utilized within the hotel industry away from pure customer service. In this capacity, technology can be used to quickly sort through large amounts of data and draw important conclusions about customers or potential customers. Some hotels have made use of the Metis AI platform. By using this technology, companies have been able to sort through data collected via surveys, online reviews and similar channels, and the AI has been able to then analyze the information and draw conclusions about overall performance.
Robots AI in the hospitality industry can also be used to deliver in-person customer service. The best example of this so far has been an AI robot called Connie, adopted by Hilton. The robot is able to provide tourist information to customers who interact with it. Most impressively, it is able to learn from human speech and adapt to individuals. Ultimately, this means that the more customers speak to it, the better the robot gets in understanding preferences and behavior. It is worth mentioning that several AI initiatives have begun in GCC, notably H.H. Sheikh Nasser’s AI Research and Development Centre in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
