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Smart tourism is taking over in the modern day, offering travellers and destinations alike the opportunity to make vacationing more efficient, sustainable, and boosting satisfaction.

So, let’s take a look at how artificial intelligence (AI), another buzzword of the last few years, can bolster smart tourism offerings.

Virtual Experiences

One aspect of smart tourism is virtual experiences. This concept is in line with a rise in digital versions of traditionally in-person experiences that have become popular throughout entertainment mediums. For example, bingo enthusiasts in the UK can find bingo online games such as Cash Cubes, Age of the Gods Bingo, and Diamond Room which are played in real time, with a human bingo caller, streamed to players live. This gives players the opportunity to interact with the host and other players through live chat for an immersive and authentic bingo experience.

This same logic can be applied to in-person tourism experiences such as museums, art galleries, hikes, and tours. However, in the world of tourism, it is important to recognise the international audience – people may want to access the virtual experience at different times, or in different languages. This is where AI can come into play. AI hosts can host live streams all day long, and can be designed to take the form of important cultural or historical characters. In addition, AI can be used to automate live translation, allowing virtual tourists to experience it in their native language.

Footfall Management

Conservation is becoming increasingly more important. This is especially the case in areas like South Africa, where the topic of ethical conservation vs economic development is often being debated. For many tourist destinations, the draw to the place is the unspoilt nature and tranquillity. Whilst more tourists bring more money into the area, this can have adverse effects on the environment that supports them.

It is a careful balance that needs to be struck between tourism and conservation, both for the environment and tourist’s enjoyment of the area. AI can be used to track the popularity of attractions at different times, and predict the flow and footfall for tourists to time their visit appropriately. In addition, AI can collect and analyse visitor’s behaviour, allowing attractions to take measures to reduce environmental impact such as waste management and energy efficiency.

Planning the Trip

Did you know, planning a vacation itinerary takes an average of 30 hours? That’s more than four working days! This is because tourists have to trawl through numerous websites to find the highest rated attractions that suit their interests, as well as manually working out how long they take, and the best route to get between them.

However, AI can make this process more efficient. Information can be sent in real time to smartphones and wearable devices to suggest places that visitors might like based on their data and past visits. In addition, AI can be used to create personalised travel plans. Users could put in the places that they want to visit, and AI can generate the most productive itinerary complete with timings and travel suggestions.

As you can see, when implemented correctly, AI could allow attractions and destinations to make their offerings more accessible, environmentally friendly, and easier to navigate. All that’s left to do is jet off, explore, and wait and see what the future