Being ahead is crucial for businesses in today’s fast-paced world, especially in the highly competitive hospitality industry. As technology constantly evolves, utilizing innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming not simply a choice, but rather a necessity. Nevertheless, how can hotel brands like Marriott or Hilton use AI to enhance guests’ experience and boost business growth?
Exploring the Use of AI in the Hotel Industry
AI-powered trip itineraries already redefine the way people tour the world. These highly advanced tools analyze an individual’s preferences, budgets and schedules to create tailored journeys in seconds (Wong et al., 2023; Bulchand-Gidumal, 2020). Imagine being able to seamlessly plan your entire trip, from flights and hotels to tours and attractions — everything designed around your individual preferences and desires. That is the power of AI in travel management. How can it benefit the hospitality industry?
For hotel brands, embedding AI into mobile apps opens many opportunities. Using guests’ travel history and preferences, AI can upsell experiences and stay within the brand, increasing revenue and guest satisfaction. It’s new and exciting at first. Then, the more often the guest books such a tailored travel program, the better the AI understands the customer and can personalize its suggestions. Picture yourself having access to customized suggestions for local attractions or exclusive offers based on your previous travel history — and all at the click of a button. It would be as if you had your own personal travel concierge right in your pocket. Whereas engagement during the stay is essential, it is even more crucial to retain the customer in the long term after the stay. With the help of AI, guests can be reached even better at home, keeping the spark alive.
The advantages do not end there. Immersive AI-powered travel organizers may also help hospitality brands increase brand awareness. Delivering a smooth and fully tailored travel experience allows hotels to establish a closer relationship with their guests and incentivize them to select their brand for upcoming vacations. Hotels can also ensure guests have the best possible experience from start to finish through dynamic suggestions and contextual planning. Did you book a vacation to Greece through the app last year? Excellent! Here is a look back at your trip (to build an emotional connection) and these are your tailored suggestions for next year: for the beach and sea, we recommend this hotel and this restaurant, and so on. Moreover, the best thing is that everything is booked directly via the company’s app (goodbye commissions!). Subsequently, the app could be linked to virtual reality (VR) glasses so that guests get first-hand insight into the possibilities and suggestions and know precisely what to expect.
Real-life examples demonstrate the effectiveness of AI in improving the guest experience. Multiple independent tools such as Vacay Chatbot and iPlan.ai are already available, which effortlessly make suggestions and create detailed schedules for different devices (Barrett, 2024). Regardless of the destination, whether exploring the vibrant streets of New York City or diving into the pulsing culture of Dubai, having AI-driven recommendations allows for every moment of the trip to be perfectly tailored.
In the future, thanks to the further development of AI, opportunities for hotel brands are infinite. Using AI-driven itineraries, hotels can distinguish themselves from the competition, increase revenue and offer their guests an unparalleled experience. From bespoke experiences and seamless planning to personalized travel scripts and tailored itineraries, the future of travel looks bright — and AI is leading the way. Will you be ready to embrace the future? With AI by your side, the sky’s the limit.
This blog post earned Third Place in the Spring 2024 HFTP/MS Global Hospitality Business Graduate Student Blog Competition presented by the HFTP Foundation. Participants are students participating in the Master of Science in Global Hospitality Business, a partnership between the Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership at the University of Houston, the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at Hong Kong Polytechnic University and EHL. The blog posts that received the top scores will be published on HFTP Connect. Learn more at HFTP News.
