Between the 9th and 13th of March 2016 was held the 50th edition of the
tourism trade show ITB, in Berlin. The whole class of the SEMTM master got the
opportunity to go there and learn more about the new trends in Tourism and discover
how this industry work from the inside.
Even before entering the first exhibition hall, the visitors of the fair
were welcomed by a new addition to the tourism industry, the robot hostess,
Chihira Kanae.
This droid is considered as the “more human-like” robot ever build and was brought to ITB from Japan, as her first international appearance (TechAdvisor).
This droid is considered as the “more human-like” robot ever build and was brought to ITB from Japan, as her first international appearance (TechAdvisor).
Her
job was to greet visitors and she was “answering questions and guiding people
in the right direction” (Reuters). Speaking 4 languages, namely Chinese,
Japanese, German and English, Chihira Kanae is supposed to advise and guide
visitors as well as a human hostess would do.
Indeed,
“a survey of travelers across Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Canada, Brazil,
Japan, the U.S. and China, done by online travel and entertainment deals site
Travelzoo showed that 80 percent of consumers expected robots to play a big
part in their lives before 2020. However, the survey also showed people still
wanted the human touch when on holiday and in certain countries, such as
Germany and France, consumers were more skeptical.” (Reuters)
In addition, another robot named Mario joined Chihira during ITB. Less
human-like, his goal is to do the check-in in hotels and currently the “Marriott
hotel in Ghent has been trialling Mario, using him to hand out room keys,
high-five guests and liven up meetings held in the hotel by reading out
presentations.” (Reuters) Mario speaks 19 languages.
Even if those robots are not build with the goal of replacing human
staff, in the tourism industry, many jobs are likely to become automatized and
that aspect might bring fear in the eyes of employees. Nevertheless, there is
still no substitute for a tip from the concierge to plan you free time and
evening out. Also a welcoming smile from the staff at the reception still
cannot be replaced.
Lucile
BESSON & Léa MARET
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