Artificial intelligence is reshaping the hospitality industry, and hospitality sector must strike a balance between efficiency and the human touch, a software engineer has warned.
Kyuhyun Choi, Lead Product Developer at Darma has identified three primary areas where AI is making a significant impact:
- Personalisation: AI-powered messaging allows businesses to tailor communications to guests, replacing static templates with dynamic, adaptive responses.
- Operational Efficiency: AI-driven automation supports staff by handling routine tasks, enabling employees to focus on value-added services instead of repetitive administrative duties.
- Enhanced Guest Experience: From AI-driven concierge services to predictive maintenance, AI helps hotels create seamless, satisfying experiences for travelers.
Integrating AI into hospitality is not without obstacles. Choi pointed to data integration as a major hurdle, as businesses struggle to consolidate guest data into unified systems for optimized personalisation.
Another pressing concern is privacy, with industry players wary of major tech corporations leveraging user data without consent. Choi assured attendees that solutions exist for those prioritizing data protection while implementing AI.
As AI-driven tools like chatbots and predictive systems gain traction, Choi says that the hospitality sector must strike a balance between efficiency and the human touch. AI is not meant to replace staff but to complement and enhance their abilities, ensuring guests receive both technological convenience and personalised service. Hotels can extract valuable insights from two primary data sources:
- Reservation Data: AI analyzes details like length of stay, location, and upcoming weather or events to offer relevant recommendations.
- Guest Data: IoT devices, smart thermostats, and direct guest inputs help hotels customize room settings, ensuring a preferred temperature upon arrival.
Despite the potential benefits, Choi emphasized that AI adoption in hospitality faces hurdles, primarily data limitations. AI models require high-quality, structured data to provide relevant recommendations, but many hotels struggle to centralize and update information effectively.
One proposed solution is vector databases with retrieval augmentation, ensuring AI assistants always access the most up-to-date information. This would prevent outdated responses—like directing a guest to a swimming pool that is temporarily closed for maintenance.
As AI-driven personalisation continues to evolve, businesses must refine data integration strategies while maintaining guest privacy. AI will not replace human hospitality but will work alongside it—enhancing guest interactions and operational efficiency while ensuring hotels deliver seamless, memorable experiences.
