It's 2020, my name is Jack and I work at the front desk of a busy 3-star hotel at Amsterdam airport called the Grand Hotel (fictitious). Our clientele is the usual airport hotel clientele you would expect, crews, holidaymakers, business travelers, and in low season some tour groups. There are 300 rooms, and we have a large restaurant and a lobby bar as well as gym, meeting rooms etc. This morning was a particularly hard morning at checkout though. The car parking validator broke down and that just transcended us into a bad place.

Technological progress in today's society has reached unprecedented levels; the World Wide Web did not even exist thirty years ago, while smartphones as we know them today have barely been around for a decade. Now, an even more sophisticated tool is at the forefront of changing the way we live - Artificial Intelligence (AI). McKinsey's Global Institute model predicts that approximately 70 percent of companies will adopt some form of AI by 2030, and that countries which are able to establish themselves as AI leaders could capture up to 20 to 25 percent more economic benefits than current levels. In recent years, one particular use of AI has become a point of contention - the use of AI in recruitment. AI has been said to be the future of many things - and recruitment is no exception.

Royal Caribbean International is looking to artificial intelligence (AI) to help manage the millions of price points it offers. "Even within each ship there are multiple inventory types ranging from a typical interior cabin, the most basic stay, to areas that can hold up to 12 people and are over 1,000 square feet," Michael Goldner, Vice president, Revenue Management, Royal Caribbean International, told Hospitality Net. Dream Cruises to Debut World's Longest Roller Coaster at... Virgin Voyages Will Allow Cruisers to'Shake for Champagne... For a long time, inventory has typically been managed manually by a team of revenue management analysts. However, it's appearing more likely that, in the future, these analysts will be managing controls to change the price rather than relying on a system to manually change it.

Royal Caribbean International is looking to artificial intelligence (AI) to help manage the millions of price points it offers. "Even within each ship there are multiple inventory types ranging from a typical interior cabin, the most basic stay, to areas that can hold up to 12 people and are over 1,000 square feet," Michael Goldner, Vice president, Revenue Management, Royal Caribbean International, told Hospitality Net. Dream Cruises to Debut World's Longest Roller Coaster at... Virgin Voyages Will Allow Cruisers to'Shake for Champagne... For a long time, inventory has typically been managed manually by a team of revenue management analysts. However, it's appearing more likely that, in the future, these analysts will be managing controls to change the price rather than relying on a system to manually change it.

According to a recent survey by Discover, 7 out of 10 Americans will take to the roadways, railways and airways for some kind of vacation this summer. Given the changeable nature of travel, there will certainly be an uptick in customer service calls. And I'll make a prediction: this summer's travel season will bring new and unique customer service challenges that, unlike in years past, are completely solvable with the right technology and strategic partner guiding your organization. So, let's start with one of the key challenges in the travel industry: simply maintaining excellent customer service during the high season of June through September. High demand, with customers asking seemingly constant questions about everything from how they can easily change their flights, to why they are not eligible for marketed reduced rates, to upgrades that might be available for hotel rooms, can spread resources thin.

As new technologies evolve and market disruptors reach their critical mass, every industry faces the need for a core transformation. The hospitality industry is no exception. Modern guests expect to have a customer-centric hotel experience starting as early as choosing a destination and learning more about accommodations and property. Guests also want more comfort, features, convenience, faster customer service, new experiences, and the list is growing. Most of the customer-focused features offered by most large and small hotel operators and various chains are quite rudimentary vs. the possibilities brought by cutting-edge technologies.

Often described as antiquated, hotel technology has advanced at a much slower pace when compared to other industries. However, as we observe the on-going momentum and emergence of new trends, it's become apparent that the hotel systems space is finally making strides to catch up. In fact, hospitality technology has come a long way. Following many years of trial and error, hoteliers have begun to utilize emerging tech that allows them to prioritize, and better yet, understand the modern guest in new and exciting ways. This evolution didn't happen overnight, but rather at the hands of industry experts eager to take one-dimensional technology solutions competing for attention, and bring them together to form a cohesive ecosystem.

A continuously growing list of records, which are linked and secured using cryptography, a blockchain is resistant to modification and is an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions such as membership loyalty programs. In regard to pre-stay communications, we have used Flip.to, which makes it easy for guests with reservations to share deals and tell friends about their upcoming stay. Another trend worth watching occurs just after rooms are booked. This began with metasearch giant, Kayak, and has led to a lack of room rate growth as hotels deal with the commodity mindset, where guests feel that they can get a better price if they continue to search. Google is adding a price tracker for hotels with which guests can receive price fluctuation alerts after booking, their apparent goal being to become a first-choice booking service rather than solely a search engine.

In the hospitality industry, one which is built around making the customer alpha, communication and information transactions must be smart, swift, insightful and analysable. Chatbots are hence the perfect tool for this type of communication and service provision. They live in messaging apps where today's internet user spends a significant portion of his time, they are also cheap in the long run and can provide deep insights into customer preferences that can greatly improve offerings for the the customer, the alpha. In 2017, the key players are still trying to figure out how to build the perfect chatbot - smart, capable of understanding complex semantics, and conversing with the customer as an experienced service rep would. Today's chatbots, limited as they are by the available underlying technology have been deployed by several players in the hospitality industry - flight providers, hotels and more.

In the words of author Malcolm Gladwell, A.I. is reaching a tipping point, "that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire." According to data from CB Insights, the number of companies and the amount of funding funneling into A.I.-based companies continues to rise. International Data Corporation (IDC) forecasts a 54% growth in Marketing spend on AI software over the next four years, from $360 million in 2016 to more than $2 billion in 2020. Why? Efficiency and transparency are the promise of A.I. – where a machine takes over a repetitive but vital task. A.I. is being used by Marketing both behind the scenes and on center stage.