The end of lost baggages thanks to AI ?

In June 2018, IATA (International Air Transport association) will oblige all airline companies to track constantly every luggage. SITA, a multinational information technology company which provides IT and telecommunication services to the air transport industry, recently released a report explaining the opportunity to increase the traveller journey.

Indeed, thanks to the automatisation of the various processes through artificial intelligence, significant progresses could be made. The idea is to use connected systems that communicate between them without the help of human beings.

For airlines and IATA it is an opportunity to reduce the costs of baggages handling even though this cost has been divided by two in the last decade. It also improves industry image by showing that airlines take their responsibilities and care about their travellers.

Today most of baggages tracking is done with markers called RFID ( radio frequency identification). The Hong Kong airport is the first airport which has implemented these markers into its baggage handling central system. It allows the travellers to follow their luggages during the journey into the airport and reduce the stress or wait and thus insatisfaction. The airport is testing at the moment a system that enables the tracking of baggages trolleys with machine learning and image processing, with a precision rate of 92%. In the near future it will allow travellers to follow the baggages from the plane to the baggage claim.

Source: https://goo.gl/images/KmVqrA

Indeed, one of the most important trend according to the digitalization marketing is the Artificial Intelligence which is more and more used by the different tourism companies.

One of the most current problem that client meet during his travel is the loss of his luggage. According to the International Society of Aeronautical Telecommunication, 82 000 luggages per day are lost in the diverse airport all around the world and 10 000 in Europe. Moreover, 2,5% of the luggages lost are either definitely lost, broken or damaged.  

In 2010, 30 million luggages recorded have been lost. This kind of problem is due to either a mistake of points during the stopover, either a problem of bar code or an incorrect manipulation of the luggage.

Even if the client can be damaged, the airlines company can loss the loyalty of its guests and receive many complaints and consequently the company will see its brand image and reputation touched. Moreover this is a waste of time for the customer who is looking for a fast service during its travel.

That’s why, thanks to this new technology, this is will improve the satisfaction of the guest, they will be more reassure and relax during their travels and company will be more able to manage the follow up of the different luggages.

We can confirm that this new Artificial Intelligence will be more and more generalized in all the airports.

Source article: Pellegrin, H. (2018, March 07). Le potentiel de l'intelligence artificielle dans le tracking de bagages.

Retrieved March 12, 2018, from http://www.tom.travel/2018/03/07/le-potentiel-de-lintelligence-artificielle-dans-le-tracking-de-bagages%E2%80%89/

Autres source: Statistiques mondiales écologiques en temps réel*. (n.d.).

Retrieved March 12, 2018, from https://www.planetoscope.com/tourisme/944-nombre-de-bagages-perdus-dans-les-aeroports.html

Blogging in the Tourism Industry.

Blogging in the Tourism Industry.

In a society where digitalization and social media are becoming omnipresent in our daily lives, blogging has become essential for tourism companies. “According to Social Media Examiner’s 2014 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 68% of marketers identified blogging as the most important area to increase usage this year, topping YouTube (67%), Twitter (67%), LinkedIn (64%) and Facebook (64%).”

Indeed, blogs create shareable contents that increase the loyalty of a company’s clients. Moreover, they are very low cost compared to the revenue that they can generate. As it is evergreen contents - meaning that what is written in a blog will always be available - they can be shared as many times as needed. Therefore, the content should be first created on the blog, then being shared on social media, not the other way around. It will also encourage internauts to visit the website.
  Last but not least, a blog is very useful for Search Engine Optimization strategies, as it can help your website to rank higher when potential customers are looking for information on the Internet. For example, Google is attracted by fresh contents and keywords. Moreover, with the rise of the WEB 2.0, enabling a participative Internet, readers have now the possibility to engage by either giving their opinion, adding comments to the blog or by sharing the article with relatives or on their personal page.

In the tourism industry, blogs have become a “ MUST HAVE”. Most Destination Management Organizations have a blog. Indeed, storytelling is especially important when promoting a destination. ie : Inside Vancouver. They advise tourists about the best places to visit, where to eat or what to do in the city, by posting frequent updates on their blogs.



However, the most famous trend in the blog phenomenon is the Blog Travelers. Indeed, rankings about the best travel bloggers are published every year, and some of them are starting to gain some notoriety. Indeed, some well known blog travelers are paid by tourism companies to publish articles about them on their websites. Moreover, it is very frequent that tourism protagonist offers free activities to bloggers in exchange of an article (ie: Writing about a cruise with Royal Caribbean).

Blogs are getting more and more personalized and original. Their contents can be very diverse, gathering video, professional photos, or story telling by locals... They can give advice about hidden or unavoidable places, but their uniqueness is due to their loyalty towards the writer personality and writing.

Here are some of the travel blogs that have caught our intention.
- Jungle in Paris

- Nomadic Matt
- Two monkeys Travel group
- Lost with Purpose
- Miss Tourist

⇒ Is this phenomenon playing a big role in the French Tourism Industry?

The 4th edition of the “Salon des Blogueurs du Voyage Francophone” will take place from the 12th to the 14th of April in San Malo - last editions were held in Cannes, Ajaccio and Bruxelles. This trade fair is organized by the tourism blogger Xavier Berthier. This event is gaining in visibility and will gather this year all the protagonists of the blogger phenomenon. All the francophone professionals of E-tourism will answer present, as there will be 250 bloggers and 85 exhibitors. They will meet during 3 days, through conferences, workshops and afterworks. It is an essential event to build a wide network in the E-tourism Industry.

In parallel, a few months ago, Xavier Berthier launched a blog platform called “Blogueur Voyage” that gathers publications about travels all around the world. This website is totally free and bloggers can add articles about a place they have visited, share any advice on a particular trip etc. The articles are then placed in a world map, that makes it very attractive and easy to read for the internauts. The quality of the Blog is certified, as all the publications are verified before being published. Moreover, this platform will be officially presented at the “Salon Mondial du Tourisme” in 2018, in Paris.

Hugo Dumurgier, Lucile Garin.

Sources :

https://www.salonblogueursvoyage.fr/

http://tourismeschool.com/blogging-for-tourism-destinations/

https://www.blogueur.voyage/categoriearticles/astuces-conseils/

http://blog.lesroches.edu/alumni/the-importance-of-blogs-in-the-tourism-industry/

http://fredericgonzalo.com/en/2014/07/06/best-practices-in-travel-marketing-blogging/

https://twomonkeystravelgroup.com/ultimate-list-of-best-hostels-hotels-in-the-world/

Experiences Airbnb, more than just a place to stay.

By Gabriela Vega and Dayris Martinez

Another reason to love Airbnb, now you can also reserve dances parties in Havana and historical tours around any city in the world.

I personally love Airbnb, I have only had really good experiences using the app. I have even found my house through them and I couldn't be happier.

But it is not only about accommodation anymore, as the way the word is constantly changing also companies have to change in order to survive in the market and Airbnb is not the exception.

It is true that this company changed the way we see traveling and became a strong rival for hotels but not happy with that they went beyond its core business to become a fuller service travel agency.

This amazing company introduce what they called "Trips" which provide tours, activities and other experiences, as well as events. This new service helps tourists immerse in the local community, since the activities and experiences are created and provided by locals.  Right now it is only available in 12 cities but hopefully they will expand to more.

They came with this idea because they were having some problems with the regulations in some countries because in some of them renting a house for a short time is illegal so this allows people to make extra money in a way that might be less controversial than the short-term rental and make the company go deeper into the travel and event market.

“We show people around the way we’d show a friend.” JC. Rodriguez  a former artist in Miami who offers a two-day experience which allows visitors meeting with local artists and create their own pieces said.

I think that is the added value of what Airbnb offers and what make them so unique and a so successful because in the end it doesn’t matter if it’s tourism or events, all it is about to bring the best experience to your customer.

This is a good example of what happen if you have a good understanding of the power of IT in your business whether is tourism or events.

To see the original post please click in the link:

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/11/18/technology/airbnb-trips-travel-tours-tailored-experiences.html
Photos dowloaded from:
Flickr with out copy right restrictions
https://www.flickr.com/search/?media=photos&license=7%2C9%2C10&advanced=1&text=smiling%20people

Travel and use your fingerprint as currency

In general, tourists can’t travel without credit card. However, it may cause the security problem——lost or stealing .In the nearly future, you won’t have to worry about this kind of problems. You may be able to touch to buy.

Japan as one of the most technologically advanced and innovative countries in the world is developing a new system of currency and is planning to test this fingerprint system in the summer. The payment method will be transformed from precious metals to paper to plastic to flesh. The government hopes to increase the number of foreign tourists by using the system to prevent crime and relieve them from the necessity of carrying cash or credit cards , especially at the tourist population booms in the 2020 Olympics, which will be held in Tokyo. 

The idea is similar to Apple Pay or other mobile payment systems that utilize fingerprint scanning. In order to implement, tourists would have to register their fingerprint and connect them with valuable data, like credit card information, at airports and other official locations. Then, consumers would be able to buy products or pay for services by simply placing two fingers on special devices scattered throughout the country.

Source: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002859676

Currently, nearly 300 places of commerce (including stores, restaurants, hotels )are signed up to participate in the initial testing of the payment system , what means people will be able to pay for items in at least 300 shops and hotels just using their fingerprints. Of course, More will be added as the system expands.

Furthermore, this system has already been tested in Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Sasebo, where customers were able to pay via fingerprint in 30 different stores and restaurants. It seems , this system achieved a great success.As a park official noting, “The system has been well received by customers, including those with children, since it saves them the trouble of taking their wallets out.”

It is really a good news for those who live in fear of losing the wallet. All you need to bring is yourself.

Reference: 

http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/japan-fingerprint-currency/
http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002859676
http://news.discovery.com/tech/biotechnology/fingerprints-could-pay-for-everything-in-japan-160414.htm

Jiang yimin & Hu Sha