How Can Chatbots Rescue the Travel and Tourism Industry, the Worst Hit in COVID-19?

The travel and tourism industry has been in the midst of a huge trial. And whether it will be able to bounce back will depend largely on its capacity to adapt to the new circumstances. In a situation where human contact is being reduced as far as possible, there is no point in assigning more individuals in the sector for customer handling.

This will not only raise the cost of operation, as well as the logistical difficulties, but will make them liable for violating the norms of social distancing, and standard operating procedures that are being put in place by authorities across the world.

Till 2017 there was a prediction of a doubling of air travel in 20 years. Although the rate has been severely stifled due to the global lockdown, the potential still seems to be immense. The famous V-shaped growth which certain optimistic analysts of the economy are suggesting is to be taken seriously.

Air travel will be one sector that might see a high rate of growth, given the earlier predictions. Airlines alone involve several functions that are already automated through chatbots and can be further automated through more extensive use of conversational chatbots.

Additionally, the travel and tourism sector talks about different kinds of travel itineraries, like ferries, buses, and trains to name a few. The travel and tourism industry also handles hotel bookings, travel schedules, planned trips, adventure sports, historical trips, luxury cruising, and many other interesting leisure activities. And handling all these at a large scale is facilitated by technology. Artificial Intelligence naturally plays a crucial role. But for customer engagement, the chatbots are yet to be utilized to their fullest potential.

Existing Uses of Chatbots in the Tourism Industry

The chatbots in the tourism sector are mostly used for pre-travel needs. They are used for booking tickets and planning the details of the trip and also finding the best travel modes or best holiday packages, and the best honeymoon suites among others. They act more like a travel consultant than a travel mate.

However, if the tourism industry needs to make a shift towards a more comprehensive use of chatbots, they will have to be able to integrate chatbots into the whole process of travel. They should become a constant companion for travelers. They should be their local guides, their hoteliers, and even their emergency contact. If it is not out of the line then even the friend who helps share and cherish the memories that had been made during the travel. All this can be possible if the chatbots can be made to adjust to the needs of the specific users.

And to do this, we propose there is a need for the decentralization of chatbots. The existing chatbots are centralized and they provide very standardized suggestions to the needs of travelers, but a decentralized system can take care of the preferences of all individual users, without the need to be trained about all the basic requirements.

OLPORTAL as a Platform for Travel Chatbots

OLPORTAL allows companies and individuals to develop and exhibit chatbots in an online market place. In the market place, the developers can assign different forms of negative pricing to make their chatbots more attractive.

This can be a level playing field for different players from the industry to exhibit their chatbots. These chatbots are pre-trained but can be also used for learning specific traits. They are always learning, even when they are offline, therefore not only are they safe, but they are also perfectly adjusted to the preference of their users.

This can be used by users all throughout their travel and it can be integrated with the other features of their devices, like GPS or other applications to make them compatible with social media and messaging applications, thereby making them the best travel companions.

Whether you are traveling solo, or with your closest people, you cannot mind having the perfect travel partner who will be the answer to all your traveling needs, and therefore a blockchain-based, decentralized chatbot can revolutionize the travel and tourism industry in more ways than one.