How are AI chatbots shaping the travel industry?
Chatbots are a new-age interface that helps you interact with your customers. The interaction is human and personalized. In fact, they respond to your customers at any time with as much information as possible. Chatbots are only smart with more time and more data.
Why chatbot is such an effective tool for travel businesses
The holiday season is the most wonderful time of the year. The rush you experience when packing your things the night before is enough to prove that everyone needs a break at some point. We do not need stress in the holiday plan. So, who do you trust the most with your travel plans - a travel agent who can confuse you with recommendations and random thoughts or a chatbot who can streamline the process?
Significantly upgraded with these bots, it serves as the most sophisticated interface between travel businesses and customers. Cleverly setting triggers through chatbots can really help us to complete our reservations in a timely manner. Chatbots not only significantly reduce the operating costs of businesses but also guarantee higher-end users for them.
Many travel agencies use travel chatbots for similar purposes-
Sell tickets
Select seats
Add extra luggage booking online
Answers to frequently asked questions
Informs about luggage allowance
Flight time
Room bookings
They redirect it to websites or operate it on Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram, etc. It provides complete information in the chat without having to visit their websites and allows users to make transactions online. Among them, WhatsApp and chatbots are more convenient for people.
Chatbots notify passengers whenever there is a reduction in the ticket price or discounts, such as flight delays, loss of luggage, or any mishap on the trip.
Accelerating customer service through travel bots
Creating a faster customer service process requires the development of channel-anonymous intelligent chatbots to support the automation of CRM processes integrated with multiple communication streams, data and core systems, and application programming interfaces (APIs).
As chatbot usage cases are evolving, companies need to create a conversation app store that lists booking bots that cater to different customer needs during the pre-booking, booking, on-property, and post-stay stages of their travels.
How to develop a chatbot in 6 steps for a travel agency
Below, we have compiled the main steps you need to complete to create the best chatbot for your travel agency.
Step 1. Determine the chatbot functionality
At this stage, you need to define the purpose of your chatbot, set goals and objectives.
Step 2. Select the chatbot type
Once you know the goals of your project, it will be easy for you to choose the right chatbot type from the following:
1. Rule-based or scripted chatbots
2. AI-based chatbots
Read More: How much does it cost to develop travel apps
Step 3. Evaluate chatbot channels
Now, you need to consider where you can use your chatbot.
Chat embedded in your travel website,
Your mobile travel application;
Mobile carrier channels (SMS, USSD)
Step 4. Choose the best venue
Depending on your chatbot type and communication channel, you may choose the platform to build your future chatbot.
If / then to create a script-based chatbot with logic, you can use one of the following platforms:
Hubspot Conversations
Chat Fuel
Facebook Messenger
Step 5. Develop Chatbot MVP
Now you need to hire Chatbot developers to help you prioritize Chatbot's business operations and implement the most important features in Travel Chatbot MVP.
MVP is the minimum viable product. This approach is used in software development when the client wants to test the hypothesis without spending a significant amount.
Step 6. Improve chatbots for the travel sector with additional features
At this stage, your development team will launch Chatbot MVP. However, this is not the end of your chatbot development process. Why? Because at this stage you need to thoroughly analyze how your chatbot is dealing with your customers. To accomplish this, ask your customers to test your chatbot and give feedback.
Consider integrating chatbot into your travel business, as it brings the following benefits:
Increase engagement. As we said, travelers are looking through various travel websites to find the best trip. At the same time, if you can offer relevant offers to your online travel chatbot customers, your agency will become more valuable to your clients and increase the engagement rate.
Reduce workload and operation costs. The bad news is that your customer support team answers frequently asked questions for at least two hours a day. FAQ Chatbot can provide travelers with answers to basic questions, thus reducing workload and customer support costs on your employees by up to 30%.
Increase sales. Passengers want to book a hotel, rent a car or pay for their ticket as soon as possible and find the long forms an unpleasant and annoying experience. To achieve this, travelers must enter their credit card information into Facebook Messenger and the platform will save it for subsequent non-collision payments.
Built the community. Aside from business logic like built-in payment and booking, Chatbot is a handy tool for building a community around your travel agency by sharing their travel experience and inspiration.
Attract new customers. Customer acquisition cost is an important metric not only in travel but also in other industries. You can authorize the bot to send a welcome message to anyone who is booking on your website or commenting on your Facebook page. Additionally, your chatbot can send relevant information based on the keywords used by your customers.
What should you consider when building travel chatbots?
All travel agencies need to know their services and capabilities before implementing chatbots in their business.
1. Check for safety
2. Support AI with human
3. Develop a chatbot personality
Conclusion Note
Travel chatbots offer a new experience for travelers and travel agencies. Chatbots and AI customers have completely changed the way they connect with brands.
Top travel brands are already implementing travel chatbots and this is a super success for them. But the important thing to consider here is that you must choose the right chatbot that meets all the needs of your brand.
USM is a top Chatbot Application Development Company in USA. We provide custom chatbot solutions for all major platforms to create engaging experiences. We are a leading Chatbot development firm that provides top-notch and high-quality chatbot development services to a wide range of brands and enterprises, regardless of industry.
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