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4THE IMPORTANCE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN TOURISM 1Sultanov Tulkin, 2Sirojiddinova Shahrizoda
1 Associate professor of "Silk Road" International University of Tourism and Cultural Heritage,
PhD
2Student of "Silk Road" International University of Tourism and Cultural Heritage https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11099280
Abstract. The application of artificial intelligence (AI) technology to enhance travelers' overall travel experiences is referred to as AI in tourism. AI has completely changed how individuals organize and navigate their travels because of its capacity to evaluate enormous volumes of data and offer tailored recommendations. AI can help passengers with travel planning, lodging selection, and attraction discovery by utilizing chatbots, virtual assistants, and predictive analytics. This improves productivity and convenience while also enabling more personalized and pleasurable experiences. Despite those factors, the utilization of AI in the tourism industry is very limited in many countries. Thus, a survey was conducted to learn about opinions of people who are engaged in the field of tourism.
Keywords: artificial intelligence, chatbot, tourism, virtual assistant, travel planning, predictive analytics, lodging selection, computer system.
AHHoma-ция. Применение технологии искусственного интеллекта (ИИ) для улучшения общего впечатления путешественников от путешествия называется ИИ в туризме. ИИ полностью изменил способы организации путешествий и управления ими благодаря своей способности оценивать огромные объемы данных и предлагать индивидуальные рекомендации. Искусственный интеллект может помочь пассажирам в планировании поездок, выборе жилья и поиске достопримечательностей, используя чат-ботов, виртуальных помощников и интеллектуальную аналитику. Это повышает производительность и удобство, а также обеспечивает более персонализированный и приятный опыт. Несмотря на эти факторы, использование искусственного интеллекта в индустрии туризма во многих странах очень ограничено. Таким образом, был проведен опрос, чтобы узнать мнение людей, которые работают в сфере туризма.
Ключевые слова: искусственный интеллект, чат-бот, туризм, виртуальный помощник, планирование путешествий, прогнозная аналитика, подбор жилья, компьютерная система.
Annotatsiya. Sayohatchilarning umumiy sayohat tajribalarini oshirish uchun sun'iy intellekt (SI) texnologiyasini qo'llash turizmda SIning o'rni deb ataladi. SI juda katta hajmdagi ma'lumotlarni baholash va maxsus tavsiyalar berish qobiliyati tufayli odamlarningsayohatlarini tashkil qilishi va harakatlanishini butunlay o'zgartirdi. SI yo'lovchilarga, chatbotlar, virtual yordamchilar va bashoratli tahlil orqali turarjoy tanlash, sayohatni rejalashtirish hamda yangi sayohat manzillarini kashf qilishda yordam beradi. Bu mahsuldorlik va qulaylikni yaxshilaydi, shu bilan birga, ko'proq shaxsiy va yoqimli tajribalarni ta'minlaydi. Ushbu omillarga qaramay, ko'plab mamlakatlarda turizm sohasida sun'iy intellektdan foydalanish juda cheklangan. Shu sababli, turizm sohasida shug'ullanadigan odamlarning fikrlarini o'rganish uchun tadqiqot o'tkazildi.
Kalitso'zlar: sun'iy intellekt, chatbot, turizm, virtualyordamchi, sayohatni rejalashtirish, bashoratli tahlil, turarjoy tanlash, kompyuter tizimi.
The term artificial intelligence (AI) has gained popularity recently as a result of the rapid advancement of technology. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the ability of machines to simulate human intelligence and carry out tasks that normally call for human involvement. Artificial intelligence (AI) has impacted practically every element of our everyday lives, from self-driving cars to virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa. Discussions regarding the moral ramifications of utilizing computers to make judgments as well as how AI may affect the employment market in the future have been spurred by its introduction. AI has the power to transform a number of industries, increase productivity, and improve our quality of life—all while allaying these worries. As technology continues to evolve, it is crucial for us to understand the capabilities and limitations of AI in order to fully harness its power for the greater good. The use of artificial intelligence in the tourism sector has completely changed how companies run and engage with their clients as technology develops. Through data analysis, virtual assistants, and personalized recommendations, artificial intelligence (AI) can improve customer experiences. According to Zlatanov & Popersku, businesses may increase overall productivity, better understand client preferences, and deliver effective customer service with the use of this technology (2019). Businesses in the tourism sector can gain a competitive edge by using AI to keep ahead of trends and offer creative solutions that cater to the changing needs of passengers.
By offering individualized and effective services, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in the tourist sector has completely changed the way customers interact with businesses. Chatbots, virtual assistants, and recommendation systems driven by AI have made it possible for companies to engage with clients in real time, answering their questions and making customized recommendations (Arsenijevic & Jovic, 2019). This technology has improved client satisfaction by providing fast support and pertinent information, in addition to streamlining the booking process. One excellent method to reduce expenses, save time, and boost productivity is by utilizing AI-powered chatbots and assistants for live assistance. Chatbots can be a helpful tool to assist with all travel-related planning and offer immediate responses on flights, hotels, transportation options, and local entertainment venues 24/7. "Two of the most well-known travel search engines, Kayak and Expedia, have already included bots into their systems. The travel bots let travelers organize their travels by using conversational language to look up hotels, airlines, and activities. Hilton Hotels uses "Connie," another AI robot that utilizes IBM's AI program, to serve as a concierge and give visitors travel advice" (Rem & Vahian, 2018). Rose AI concierge at Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas enhances the visitor experience. Artificial intelligence (AI)-driven chatbots are quickly becoming a highly useful tool for helping consumers plan their travels at every step and can greatly improve the customer experience (Gretzel, 2017) According to Buhalis, AI also aids in the analysis of consumer preferences and behavior to provide tailored recommendations, boosting client loyalty and engagement (1998). The tourist industry can develop seamless and memorable experiences that adapt to individual requirements and preferences by incorporating AI into multiple touchpoints of the customer journey. This will ultimately result in increased customer retention rates and revenue growth. In order to stay competitive and satisfy customers, businesses in the tourism sector must maximize operations and efficiency. Businesses can improve overall performance by putting customer service first, optimizing technology, and streamlining operations (Tsaih & Hsu, 2018). Operational excellence can be attained by putting tactics like automation for booking systems, data analytics for understanding client trends, and employee best practices training into effect. "Because AI integrates with data science and machine learning, businesses can leverage enormous volumes of data. Businesses may create descriptive, predictive, and
prescriptive models with data automation tools to help direct their decision-making" (Boris, 2021). According to Dimitros and Rob, spending money on sustainable methods might appeal to eco-aware tourists as well as the environment (2008). Through ongoing assessment and enhancement of operations, tourist enterprises may boost efficiency, curtail expenses, and finally provide a flawless visitor experience. Organizations that prioritize efficiency will prosper in a market that is becoming more and more competitive.
A survey was conducted to fully analyze the potential power of AI to use it for the optimization of the tourism sector among people from different spheres of tourism (Fig.1).
Figure 1:
POSITION:
9 Undergraduate» student 9 Graduate student 9 PhD student 9 Assistant teacher 9 L.ecturer 9 Professor teacher 9 PhO professor • Other
Majority of the survey takers were male (Fig 2), which may show that they have good understanding of AI application in tourism.
Figure 2:
Pie Chart
Female
30%
Survey participants were from Uzbekistan, Russia , USA, UK , Malaysia, India and Turkey
(Fig.3).
Figure 3: Countries
Turkey USA 2.5%
80%
Survey questions included the following:
1. What do you understand about Artificial intelligence?
2. In your opinion, what is the role of Artificial Intelligence in tourism education?
3. Which spheres of tourism can be developed via the help of Artificial Intelligence?
4. What is the role of Artificial Intelligence in organizing marketing in the hotel industry?
5. How to launch a restaurant business using Artificial Intelligence?
6. What is the importance of Artificial Intelligence in the organization of guide and interpreter services?
7. How can Artificial Intelligence be implemented to preserve tangible cultural heritage?
8. What is the influence of Artificial Intelligence on preserving intangible cultural heritage?
9. To what extent Artificial Intelligence can be utilized to improve infrastructure?
10. When organizing travel programs and tour packages in tourism, to what extent do you think the use of Artificial Intelligence service should be?
11. To what extent is artificial intelligence service used in the development of the tourism sector in your country?
The survey showed that people already have deep understanding of Artificial Intelligence, and thus, have ideas about how it can be utilized in different sectors of tourism, including tourism education, marketing in hotel industry, restaurant business, guide-interpreter services, tangible and intangible cultural heritage preservation, infrastructure development and organizing travel programs.
1. What do you understand about Artificial intelligence?
Professors and lecturers answered this question as following: "The imitation of human intelligence in machines designed to think and behave like people is known as artificial intelligence, or AI. It includes a broad range of methods and tools, such as robots, computer vision, machine learning, and natural language processing. AI systems are capable of doing tasks with variable degrees of autonomy, making judgments, learning from data, and analyzing it. Artificial Intelligence (AI) aims to build machines that can sense their surroundings and act to accomplish certain tasks, frequently outperforming humans in some domains." While undergraduate students have a contrasting opinion and maintain that AI is a cutting edge technology as well as an easier way of getting things done. Both opinions about AI is correct, however, AI is far more powerful than we can all think of.
2. In your opinion, what is the role of Artificial Intelligence in tourism education?
Lecturer Akash Sharma answered that by improving the personalized, interactive, and data-
driven nature of training, artificial intelligence has the potential to totally change the field of tourism education and better prepare students for careers in the ever-evolving and dynamic tourist sector. Undergraduate student Butayeva Mekhrangiz claimed that tourism education will become more practical rather than theoretical via help of AI. Others answered similar to Akash Sharma and Butayeva Mekhrangiz. By encouraging creativity, customizing learning, and equipping students for professions in a field that is changing quickly, artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize the teaching of tourism. Teachers may provide thorough, hands-on, industry-relevant instruction that equips students to thrive in the fast-paced tourist sector by utilizing AI technologies. Thus, AI plays a crucial role in tourism industry.
3. Which spheres of tourism can be developed via the help of Artificial Intelligence?
Survey participants replied differently to the second question with various examples. However, the core ideas were the same: AI has the power to revolutionize a number of tourism-related industries by improving customer satisfaction, efficiency, and personalization. For instance, personalized recommendations, customer service, dynamic pricing, smart destination management, recommendation systems, predictive analytics and language translation can be used to improve various spheres of the tourism sector.
4. What is the role of Artificial Intelligence in organizing marketing in the hotel industry?
Professor Adam Watts answered this question as the following: "Artificial intelligence systems examine social media mentions, reviews, and comments from customers to determine their sentiment and pinpoint areas that need work. By using this data, hotels may improve the entire guest experience, respond to consumer issues, and hone their marketing strategy". PhD student Firuz Furkatov thinks that the role of marketing is very low. By contrast, others suggest that with the use of AI, hotels may create targeted ads, promotions, and offers based on customer preferences and past brand interactions, resulting in highly personalized marketing campaigns. Customer loyalty and engagement are increased by this customization. Actually, the hotel sector can rely on artificial intelligence to organize marketing activities since it allows for more individualized, efficient, and targeted methods via help of data analysis, personalized marketing and sentiment analysis. According to Zsarnoczky, large volumes of data, from many sources, such as internet activities, booking patterns, and client demographics and preferences, are analyzed by AI algorithms (2017). By using this data analysis, hotels may better understand their target markets and adjust their marketing tactics.
5. How to launch a restaurant business using Artificial Intelligence?
Students answered to this question as "the biggest help of AI in starting restaurant business could be well developed marketing, which brings more customers to this place." Conversely, lecturers and professors answered that using artificial intelligence (AI) to launch a restaurant business entails incorporating AI technology into various business operations to improve productivity, client satisfaction, and profitability via market research and concept development, business planning and strategy, AI-powered menu development, smart kitchen management, marketing and promotion and customer service enhancement. This answer fully described the significance of AI in launching a restaurant business.
6. What is the importance of Artificial Intelligence in the organization of guide and interpreter services?
Majority of the survey takers' reply to this question was that only via help of AI powered translators could be able to assist in organization of guide-interpreter services. The detailed reply was given by Aslbek Toshboyev, a tour agent, as following: "Through better language translation, real-time interpretation, personalized recommendations, virtual guided tours, accessibility enhancements, data analysis for insights, cost optimization, and the creation of multi-modal communication channels, artificial intelligence (AI) improves the way that guide and interpreter services are organized. In the end, these developments make the experience of travelers using guide and interpretation services more smooth, effective, and pleasurable. "This answer fully showed the potential of AI to hellp in the organization of guide and interpreter services.
7. How can Artificial Intelligence be implemented to preserve tangible cultural heritage?
Undergraduate student Zukhriddin Ismailov reply was digitalization and documentation could help to prsserve tangible cultural heritage since AI-powered tools can facilitate the digitization of cultural artifacts and historical documents. High-resolution imaging techniques combined with AI algorithms can automate the process of capturing and cataloging artifacts, creating detailed digital replicas. This digital documentation ensures that cultural heritage is preserved even in the event of damage or destruction. Another undergraduate student Ibodullayev Anvar's answer was as following: " AI can help in the restoration of historical sites and artifacts that have been harmed. In order to reconstruct missing pieces of artifacts or make predictions about how they would have appeared in their original state, machine learning algorithms can examine historical documents, photos, and other types of data. AI can also assist conservationists in selecting appropriate materials and methods for restoration projects"In general, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies provide creative instruments and approaches to safeguard and advance material cultural legacy, guaranteeing its perpetuation for upcoming generations and encouraging broader accessibility, comprehension, and appreciation of varied cultural legacies. Historic sites, relics, monuments, and customs are examples of tangible cultural heritage that can be preserved through the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in a variety of ways.
8. What is the influence of Artificial Intelligence on preserving intangible cultural heritage?
Most answers were similar to the previous question. Graduate student Asilbek Muhammadiyev claims that AI makes it easier to create digital repositories and archives for intangible cultural resources. Text documents, images, videos, audio files, and other types of multimedia content can all be arranged and categorized using machine learning algorithms. These digital repositories encourage cooperative efforts in heritage preservation and give academics,
educators, and communities convenient access to cultural resources. This could be an optimal way of preserving intangible cultural heritage due to the fact that Societies may transcend boundaries of space and time, conserve a variety of cultural manifestations, and encourage the generational transfer of priceless cultural information and customs by utilizing AI technologies to build digital archives and repositories for intangible cultural assets.
9. To what extent Artificial Intelligence can be utilized to improve infrastructure?
Professors and lecturers think that Transportation network optimization and traffic flow are
improved by AI-powered solutions. In order to improve overall mobility and shorten travel times, artificial intelligence (AI) systems scan real-time traffic data from sensors and cameras, optimize traffic signals, control congestion, and offer personalized route recommendations. Students have also another optimal idea regarding the infrastructure as they maintain that artificial intelligence technologies improve building automation and expedite construction operations. Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered smart building systems maximize energy consumption, indoor climate control, and maintenance scheduling, while robotics and AI-driven machinery boost construction efficiency. Both ideas could be very helpful in the development of the infrastructure. In addition, AI helps with data-driven planning and design of infrastructure. In order to maximize land use planning, infrastructure layouts, and urban development—thereby fostering sustainability and resilience—machine learning algorithms examine historical data, population patterns, and environmental conditions.
10. When organizing travel programs and tour packages in tourism, to what extent do you think the use of Artificial Intelligence service should be?
Majority answered that the use of AI should be unlimited in this sphere, while others think that it should be limited to avoid unemployment and other problems that may arise.
However, important thing to consider is when planning travel programs and tour packages, AI services should be used with human knowledge in mind, taking into account things like client preferences, the intricacy of the travel itinerary, the need for personalization, efficiency, customer service, and continual improvement. Through the careful balancing act between AI-powered automation and human interaction, travel agencies can provide their clients smooth, customized, and unforgettable travel experiences.
11. To what extent is artificial intelligence service used in the development of the tourism sector in your country?
Malaysian and Turkish students answered that the AI is becoming more popular in tourism and utilized in many ways, while all other people answered that the usage of AI in is very limited or not used at all in their country. Hence, considering all of the benefits of AI, it should be encouraged to use more in tourism industry.
The importance of AI in tourism is undeniable. Modern tourism relies heavily on artificial intelligence to improve client experiences, streamline operations, and boost security and safety. Travelers may find information more quickly and easily with the use of AI technologies like chatbots and virtual assistants, which also enable efficient communication and personalized recommendations (Dimitrios & Peter, 2015). AI is also capable of analyzing vast volumes of data to forecast trends and preferences, which enables companies to customize their offerings to match client needs. Furthermore, through the real-time monitoring of crowds and the detection of possible threats, AI-powered devices can enhance safety protocols. All things considered, the tourism sector needs to incorporate AI if it is to remain competitive and offer top-notch services to tourists everywhere. Despite this, the use of AI in the tourism industry in the majority of
countries is very limited or not used at all. Hence, AI should be promoted to develop and improve
efficiency in tourism sector.
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