Chatbots and artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistants have grown in popularity among travel brands over the past several years, with companies from startups to suppliers to intermediaries hoping to capitalize on the popularity of messaging platforms and voice interfaces such as Amazon’s Alexa.
From simple bots on Slack or Facebook Messenger to more sophisticated end-to-end planning apps, chatbot technology is playing an increasing role in how consumers plan travel.
However, some early efforts wound up being more frustrating than helpful. For example, if a bot failed to understand a request or had limited capabilities, travelers would hit a dead end.
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A new report from Phocuswright examines how several chatbot startups found a way to turn these limitations into a feature rather than a bug.
Bots: The Future of Brick and Mortar?, written by Cathy Walsh, also looks at how bots can help brick-and-mortar businesses and investigates the benefits to a hybrid approach to interacting with travelers.
The report is FREE for existing Phocuswright Open Access subscribers (learn about how to become one here).