There is no question that the travel industry has been hit hard by the current pandemic. Places once packed to the gills with tourists now lie empty, and people are increasingly reluctant to travel given the risk of infection as well as quarantine requirements. However, all indications point to this travel freeze being temporary: the number of people traveling in the United States this August was higher than it has been compared to the past four months, and analysts predict that pent up demand for travel will provide a further boost to the hard-hit industry as restrictions lift and people's anxieties ease. This is a crucial moment for the industry as travel brands work to overcome the challenges imposed by COVID-19. Now more than ever, travel companies need the advanced capabilities of deep learning to unlock new opportunities and find innovative ways to reach new customers.

A look at some clever uses of AI in travel and how it is already helping travel marketers overcome some of the biggest problems they're currently facing in the industry. Earlier this year, Sojern's State of the Industry: The 2019 Report on Travel Advertising, billed as the largest-ever survey of global travel marketers, revealed what industry insiders consider to be the greatest challenges for modern travel brands. Delivering personalised offers in real-time topped the list of challenges (46%) with ROI and profitability (45%), targeting travellers at specific points along the path to purchase (45%), keeping with the industry's fast-paced changes (45%) and using customer data effectively (44%) all closely followed. Artificial intelligence is already solving a lot of these and in this article, we take a look of some of these solutions. The generational shift from Babyboomers to Millennials has been particularly challenging, compounded by rapid advances in technology.

In our upcoming webinar, we're taking a closer look at machine learning, a technology that has the potential to transform how travel brands interact with their customers and deliver more personalized experiences. Register now to attend on Wednesday, June 19 from 1-2 p.m. EDT. Machine learning is taking the travel industry by storm. Experts suggest this game-changing technology could fundamentally transform significant portions of the travel business, whether that's marketing, pricing decisions, loyalty programs, customer service, supply chain management, operations, or beyond. One 2018 study by McKinsey estimated that artificial intelligence and predictive analytics, two technologies closely associated with machine learning, will have an $800 billion economic impact on the travel industry. But what exactly is machine learning?

AUSTIN, TX--As indicators prove the economy is getting stronger and consumers place a greater emphasis on experiences rather than products, there's a demand for travel. "In addition to strong economic variables and confident consumers with additional disposable incomes, consumer expectations play a major role in this summer's record-breaking travel season," said Noreen Henry, CEO of WayBlazer, a B2B travel technology company. The hotel industry is adopting advancements in technology that offer travelers convenience, ease of travel and digital access to the experiences they crave. "As brands within the travel space begin to adopt new technology, consumers are becoming much more likely to book trips. Consumers want convenience and personalization, and brands are meeting these demands through innovation," said Henry.

Forbes said so back in February. Google and Microsoft have both declared pivots from mobile-first to "AI-first." An amazing-but-creepy robot has made the talk show circuit. And of course, AI has increasingly become a priority for marketers. In fact, 55% of them believe AI will have a bigger impact on marketing than social media ever had, according to Weber Shandwick.

Over 2.5 billion people have at least one messaging app installed and is estimated that by the end of 2018 a total of 3.6 billion users will be using messaging apps to connect with friends and businesses, being now clear that messaging really is the new social media. Many hotels already offer messaging options to their guests, some giving the ability to text them through their own apps or establishing messaging channels like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger or even SMS. The real revolution is yet to come and is showing is first signs. When major messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger and Slack introduced bots earlier in 2016, became clear that bots will be an integral part of the future. Some travel brands embraced the new technology almost immediately -- Kayak, Skyscanner, Expedia.com have launched bots of their own -- and is expected that in the following months more travel brands and independent hotels will follow the trend.

In a final taster from EyeforTravel's latest white paper on chatbots we find that travel brands still have work to do Chatbots are a potential route to billions of consumers but travel brands are failing to fully take advantage of their possibilities, according to a recent report from EyeforTravel and Travelaer titled Are Bots Worth the Bother? The report investigated how many travel brands have used Facebook Messenger to deliver customer service, and how many bookings were secured. The might of Facebook, which has seen its share price rise by 30% in the last six months, has not been missed. Today 93% of airlines have a Facebook page and 81% a Messenger link. But it seems that many don't want to talk about it.

Google is increasingly relying on machine learning to order search results, increasing concerns among travel brands about how they'll continue to be ranked. Sure, Google's use of machine learning might not be anything new, but understanding how it's using this technology is vital for the sector which can sometimes struggle to satisfy its notoriously fickle and savvy customer base. NB: This is an analysis by Daniel Bensley, travel industry lead at Qubit. To me, this report highlights a wider challenge for the industry around our approach to AI and machine learning techniques. Whether it's Google changing its search ranking metrics or technology's impact on jobs in the sector, headlines around AI are often more likely to spark fear rather than excitement.

Travel brands should ensure they consider the search "intent" of prospective customers when optimising their pages, as Google turns more to advanced tech to serve results. With the search giant's increased use of machine learning and sophisticated artificial intelligences techniques to display results, smaller travel brands in particular must understand how a subtle shift is taking place in how SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages) are served. Larger travel companies, Searchmetrics argues, have an advantage as Google appears to rank them higher for content than similar items from lower-profile brands. Google is looking to understand the "real intention" behind words used by consumers, in a bid to make results more relevant, says Marcus Tober, Searchmetrics CTO and founder. "With the help of user signals, such as how often certain results are clicked and how long people spend there, the search engine gets a sense of how well searchers' questions are answered; allowing it to continually refine and improve relevance. "A searcher who types'things to remember for my beach holiday' into the search box is most likely looking for a short list for example; someone who types'height Mont Blanc' wants a single piece of information, while a query like'nice beach mallorca' is most likely wanting a series of images and a'how to pack a suitcase' query might be best served with video content." Interestingly, word count on content is beginning to become a determininh factor of the placement of sites in search results. This, according to Searchmetrics, is due to top performing results generally more detailed, cover more aspects of a topic (destination, for example). The number of keywords, however, is no longer as important as previously thought of, Tober argues. "Google is no longer just trying to reward pages that use more matching keywords with higher rankings; it is trying to interpret the search intention and boosting the content that is most relevant to the query." Finally, backlinks are also becoming less important to achieve a high ranking in SERPS. It remains a "strong correlation", Tober says, but things have changed, not least because mobile searches are now so popular and, generally, pages are more often than not "shared" or "liked", rather than linked to. "Google's application of machine learning to evaluate search queries and web content means that the factors it uses to determine search rankings are changing all the time.

At the end of last year, we asked a few experts to predict the social media trends we'll be seeing in 2017. Live video was a running theme, as was virtual reality. However, we thought we'd take the opportunity to explore another interesting topic - artificial intelligence (or AI). Providing travel brands the perfect opportunity to connect with consumers and enhance customer service - we've seen a number of businesses experimenting with the technology. Here's how, along with a few of the most interesting examples to catch my eye.