In the last couple of years, artificial intelligence has found its way in almost all industries and the hospitality one makes no exception. Being a highly competitive domain, those working in this industry have always been keen on keeping up-to-date with trends and technological advancements.
With the help of AI, businesses operating in the hospitality industry can upgrade their services, processes and improve customer experiences. After all, in this field, it’s all about boosting revenues and loyalty. And what better way to build customer loyalty than by offering them the best experiences. Nowadays, everyone is constantly connected to technology and customers expect to benefit from the same advantages whether they are at home, staying in a hotel or dining out at a restaurant.
Let’s have a look at some of the most common AI implementations in hospitality.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Keeping in touch with customers and attending to their needs is an extremely important aspect in hospitality. It is also a difficult and very time consuming one. But AI systems, more specifically chatbots, have proved to be extremely effective when it comes to direct messaging and online chat services. Chatbots are able to understand and respond to simple questions or requests almost instantaneously. And they can do this 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Apart from discussing with customers, AI-driven chatbots can help hotel guests with a wide range of tasks, including ordering meals or drinks, controlling room temperature and lighting, managing evening reservations, as well as taxi booking and itinerary planning. Requests are usually sent to chatbots through virtual interactions using a mobile app or another device.
For instance, the Clarion Hotel Amaranten in Stockholm has an AI-enabled butler. The chatbot is an in-room assistant based on Amazon Echo. The assistant, equipped with powerful features, is designed to help guests with most of the requirements that were normally handled by a human employee.
Another trend in hospitality is to use AI to deliver in-person customer service. The idea of robots interacting with people is becoming more and more common. The most famous use case is Connie, a robot concierge powered by IBM’s Watson AI platform, which can be met in Hilton’s Hotels.
Connie interacts with guests and is able to provide tourist information, such as airport location or Italian restaurants. The robot can also learn from human speech and adapt to individuals, meaning that it gets “smarter” with every interaction.
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