AI Integration in Tourism Industry: The 'Compound Effect' Finally Emerges
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The tourism industry has developed unevenly, with ticket sales becoming the primary source of profit while service quality lags behind. With the intervention of AI and technology, can the tourism industry achieve a 'compound effect'?
As the National Day holiday approaches, the massive tourism market is eagerly anticipating a surge in travel, which has become an inevitable choice for residents during holidays.
However, beneath the seemingly 'perfect match' of supply and demand, issues with tourism service quality remain a recurring topic. The scenario of 'arriving with high hopes but leaving disappointed' has almost become an annual tradition during the Golden Week.
The industry has not been idle in addressing these problems, but due to various reasons, the results have been lackluster. The introduction of artificial intelligence has now provided new ideas for improving service quality in the tourism sector.
Data shows that the development of China's tourism industry has been astonishingly rapid, with the market size doubling between 2012 and 2018, and this growth shows no signs of stopping. According to the China Tourism Academy, the domestic tourism market is expected to continue its significant growth in 2019.
Data source: China Tourism Academy
The National Day holiday has always been a peak period. Data from the China Tourism Academy indicates that during the 2018 National Day holiday, domestic tourist arrivals reached 726 million, a year-on-year increase of 9.43%, generating domestic tourism revenue of 599.08 billion yuan, up 9.04% from the previous year.
Data source: China Tourism Academy
Behind the prosperity of the tourism industry, persistent thorny issues remain glaringly obvious.
Earlier this year, the State Administration for Market Regulation conducted a survey on service quality in the tourism industry. The results revealed that in the first half of the year alone, there were over 6,000 complaints about tourism service quality, a 24.73% increase compared to the same period last year.
Complaints mainly focused on travel agencies, services at major scenic spots, and pricing issues. The numerous service quality problems at various scenic spots have a significant impact on the industry.
The direct consequence of poor service quality affecting travelers' experiences is the 'one-time' nature of tourist destinations. 'One-time' refers to tourists never returning after their first visit, which is akin to the industry cutting off its own future.
Such cases are not uncommon in the tourism industry. For example, on July 31 this year, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced on its official website that seven 5A-level scenic spots with severely substandard quality or serious issues would be penalized. Among them, the Qiao Family Compound in Qi County, Shanxi Province, received the harshest penalty—its 5A rating was revoked, downgrading it to no rating at all.
Even before this, the Qiao Family Compound had already seen a sharp decline in visitors. The root causes included a lack of diverse tourism products, excessive commercialization, and insufficient services and management at the scenic spot.
Of course, most scenic spots may also have their own challenges.
Recognizing these long-standing 'chronic issues' in the tourism industry, artificial intelligence has stepped in. Many products targeting the tourism sector have emerged, addressing various industry needs. Through big data, cloud technology, and digitalization, these solutions aim to resolve traditional pain points and provide new directions for all-scenario tourism services.
In theory, the tourism industry is not a single-revenue-structure sector, but currently, 'ticket sales' remain the core revenue source for scenic spots. The industry encompasses multiple scenarios such as 'food, accommodation, transportation, sightseeing, shopping, and entertainment,' but the lack of a 'valuable' bridge to connect these segments has left them operating in isolation within the broader tourism ecosystem.
Even in relatively developed tourism regions, where government support and other factors have helped create a better-integrated tourism ecosystem, issues like inadequate transportation infrastructure, reception facilities, signage systems, and internet connectivity during peak holiday periods still lead to 'customer loss.'
Moreover, many regions operate their tourism businesses in a relatively crude manner, with insufficient effective supply and a lack of market benefits and scale. As a result, the tourism market, which should exhibit a strong 'compound effect,' fails to maximize its potential.
The 'compound effect' is an economic concept referring to the scenario where the return on an asset, when calculated with compound interest, exceeds that of simple interest over multiple periods.
Given the aforementioned reasons, the 'compound effect' in the tourism industry is far from meeting expectations. However, it is encouraging that these issues are gradually being recognized and addressed by the industry.
Take the traditional tourist attraction, the Forbidden City, as an example. In addition to maintaining its existing services, it has begun strengthening its peripheral ecosystem by launching a series of beauty products, food items, and cultural creative products. These initiatives have gradually evolved into highly valuable IP assets that can be continuously expanded and diversified.
For tourists, enhancing the service experience within the Forbidden City is another major focus of its digital applications. The 'Explore the Forbidden City' mini-program, already used by many visitors, is an important platform for the Forbidden City to improve its service ecosystem through digital technology.
The Forbidden City has leveraged Tencent Maps' location services and Tencent Cloud Xiaowei's voice assistant to create a smart tour mini-program, bridging the gap between online and offline experiences for visitors.
In the 'Explore the Forbidden City' mini-program, the AI tour guide, personified as 'Lord Fu,' provides visitors with intelligent, humorous, and personalized private tour services that are easy to understand and responsive.
'Lord Fu' is not just for interaction; its primary role is to offer personalized services through voice interaction, such as providing information about attractions, planning routes, explaining cultural relics, locating restrooms, and sharing interesting anecdotes about the emperors of the Forbidden City. This allows visitors to enjoy a 'deep tour' even without a human guide.
By using AI to provide routine services like locating restrooms or asking for directions, scenic spots can effectively alleviate service quality issues caused by insufficient manpower. Meanwhile, well-designed mini-programs can further enhance the visitor experience through features like cultural relic explanations and route planning, while also promoting the digital dissemination of cultural heritage. Additionally, interactive features such as 'auspicious sign check-ins' and 'postcards' in the 'Explore the Forbidden City' mini-program aim to increase visitor engagement and foster brand loyalty.
Compared to traditional tourism services, will AI-driven solutions be widely accepted by travelers?
This may no longer be a question. With the intervention of AI, the convenience and efficiency it brings to travelers will only increase.
Currently, trends like independent travel, road trips, and immersive experiences are gaining momentum. The new six elements—'business, wellness, education, leisure, emotion, and novelty'—are fostering new business models, making market demands more personalized.
Traditional methods struggle to keep up with these changes, but AI can. For example, during the pre-trip planning phase, itinerary planning is a critical task for travelers. In the past, travelers had to sift through extensive materials and guides to create a satisfactory itinerary.
In the digital age, this process is no longer necessary. Numerous travel itinerary customization products are now available, allowing travelers to input their plans, budgets, preferences, and even specific hotel or activity requests, all of which can be resolved through platform recommendations or queries, assisting travelers in their planning.
'Personalization' and 'standardization' are not contradictory in the tourism industry. While pursuing personalized experiences, standardized content is also needed. For example, navigation and explanations were once pain points for independent travelers, but with the integration of smart AI in major scenic spots, these issues can now be easily resolved.
For instance, as mentioned earlier, after introducing digital tools like Tencent Cloud Xiaowei, the Forbidden City allows visitors to use voice interaction for 'questions, navigation, and explanations,' improving service efficiency.
These features precisely address the standardized aspects of users' personalized needs.
In the past, whether it was 'food, accommodation, transportation, sightseeing, shopping, and entertainment' or 'business, wellness, education, leisure, emotion, and novelty,' these experiences existed in isolation and were not integrated.
Previously, upon arriving at a scenic spot, tourists might use one app or local guides to find 'fun activities,' while 'good food' required another app, and 'accommodation' and 'transportation' were entirely separate matters.
Similarly, with the intervention of intelligent AI, a complete tourism ecosystem can now be accessed 'one-stop' by travelers, effectively solving various problems caused by 'information asymmetry' and further 'lightening the load' for tourists.
For example, the 'Explore the Forbidden City' platform covers the entire tourist journey:
By efficiently reaching users through mini-programs, tourists no longer need to switch between different apps for different scenarios or issues, simplifying their experience.
Therefore, overall, integrating AI into the tourism industry is both natural and widely anticipated.
In the current mobile internet era, with the explosion of personalized demands and the continuous upgrading of consumption structures, the advantages of AI are deeply integrated with various industries. This is not only a market demand but also an inevitable trend.
Of course, the final outcome still needs to undergo market testing, but there is no doubt that AI will bring disruptive changes to the tourism industry.