How chatbots are changing the travel industry

Businesses can leverage chatbots for travel to create an iterative cycle of improving customer experience. Chatbots can assist travellers right from their first interaction until the end of the journey and farther to assisting in planning future travel.

Gone are the days when people had to visit a local agent every time they wanted to travel. And these visits led to innumerable calls, emails, and meetings with the agencies. That's how travel was planned and executed traditionally. But now, in today's digital era, people plan their travel over digital devices themselves. They can book their travel tickets and hotel rooms all over a website or application. Based on a study, travellers visit 38 sites on average to plan their travel. That's where businesses with chatbots can get a competitive advantage. Companies can leverage chatbots for travel communication to attract digitally adept customers.

Leveraging chatbots for travel and tourism

Businesses can deploy chatbots to enhance customer services right from the pre-travel phase to the post-travel phase.

Acting as first touchpoints

Chatbots can be the first touchpoints when travelers are trying to reach a brand. They can also initiate communication while customers are surfing websites for getting details. This can help attract and engage customers. Chatbots can be used to assist consumers in planning their travel. They can provide recommendations based on customer requirements. And they can also operate as booking agents. Customers will be able to plan their travel and make all the necessary bookings all from a single platform. This will eliminate the need for innumerable calls and email communications with travel agencies.

Providing virtual assistance

Chatbots can provide virtual assistance to travelers throughout their journey. They can act as travel guides and answer all destination-related queries of customers. Travelers can get guidance and suggestions in their native language as chatbots can communicate in multiple languages. Also, chatbots can provide personalized suggestions for restaurants, cuisines, and tourist spots in the localization based on customers' preferences. And since chatbots can provide round the clock services, all customers' queries can be addressed within a minimum response time.

Maintaining ongoing customer relationships

Retaining once served customers is a must for all the businesses in today's competitive world. Chatbots can help travel agencies to ensure that customers are retained by maintaining an ongoing relationship with them even after their journey has completed. Chatbots have the potential to transform marketing, which can be applied not just to acquire new customers but also to retain the current ones. Chatbots can collect various travelers' information, such as their preferences, monthly income, and other demographics. With such information, chatbots can send personalized travel tours to customers for their future travel. They can also collect feedback from customers regarding their experiences during travel. Chatbots can analyze feedback forms to enhance customer service on their next travel.

Every business should start implementing chatbots for travel assistance to enhance customer service. Chatbots are the best when it comes to enhancing customer service. According to a survey, 95% of consumers believe that customer service is the major beneficiary of chatbots. Hence, almost every business has implemented chatbots. And those who haven't are planning to do so. If you haven't incorporated or planned on implementing chatbots, it is time to make a decision now before it's too late.