ADOPTING CHAT APPS, BOTS & AI

Nowadays, there is a switch in the way people are communicating, we are entering the new era of communication. Our Smartphone is more than a tool to facilitate our way to communicate,  it is also part of our personality and essential in our daily life. Chat apps, such as Facebook, WeChat, snapchat have been adopted by million of users in the world and are powered by either artificial intelligence, human powered or even both. They are offering an entire ecosystem of services which are integrated in the app. AI and Human powered gives the opportunity to users to ask questions from the app without leaving it and they will get an answer from a chatbots or a person.

Chatbots, which are computer programs willing to understand and “communicate” with natural language, will become another form of distribution and a new communication technology for tourism companies.

The apps will be able to use the information openly available for prices (for hotels and flights for instance), it will know when a user is traveling and its preferences ( 3star hotel, gastronomic restaurant, first class flight …). By consequence, the user will only see results according to its traveling habits and preferences but the chatbot will not only provide an answer, it will also be able to do the transaction. Big brands, hotels and OTAs have the opportunity to meet customers on the platforms they are used to be, make transactions easier and create new guests’ experiences.

Nice isn’t it ? Not always, it is not that easy !! Some challenges need to be taken into account to be prepared:

Customers expectation are changing, responsiveness is the key for success (or failure). Indeed, a delay in the app conversation will affect directly the hotel effectiveness and damage customers experiences.

A close cooperation inside the business to know who is the best positioned to handle the client's problem or question.

Try to find a way for synchronization will be fundamental. As people are using many chat apps, tools which allow seamless flow of communication in one place will be needed. For instance, you are are asking through the hotel chatbots some information, then you decide to call the desk. It will annoy you to explain again what you ask in the morning so it is crucial for the hotel to know that you are the same guest who had a conversation on an app and you are now on the phone.

Take into account your image to put in place new procedures for communicating on the apps. If you are a luxury hotel, do you think your guests would like to communicate in an informal way as we use to do on apps?

It is not only about enabling communication, a key elements which need to be thought is how to enable transactions via chat apps?

Be prepared for the upcoming change !! 

Written by Clémence DUVENT & Lauriane AMAND 

References: 

Rajesh Rajan (2016) from: http://www.hospitalityupgrade.com/_magazine/MagazineArticles/Adopting-Chat-Apps-Bots-and-AI.asp