How to do with artificial intelligence in tourism?

The question we should be asking is not "What can artificial intelligence (AI) do?", but "What can't it do?" When we find the answer to this question, we need to identify the people who are better than AI and provide this service. Those who don't ask this question and continue not to use AI will disappear, just as the wired phones disappeared.

This is the conclusion given by Peter Syme, one of the world's leading speakers in the field of tourism. Syme, a British entrepreneur who has run companies in Britain, Spain, Morocco and other countries – and has now sold them all – now works as a global consultant.

I had the honor to be part of a panel, together with Mr. Syme and Matija Marijan, owner of Turneo, one of the 25 most promising startups in the world in the field of tourism. The panel was held as part of the international conference Tourism Think Tank 2024, organized in Kotorr by the company's consultant Kirsi Hyvaerinen HYVÄ Coaching & Consulting.

My presentation was related to the company Balkan Natural Adventure, where I am a co-owner, while I was invited because of our work in the field of digitization and engagement of artificial intelligence in management processes. This probably makes us the most digitized company in Kosovo in the field of tourism.

Balkan Natural Adventure trained a bot to design and answer customer questions about the trail Peaks of the Balkans. In addition to the bot, with the support of various projects, including those that have won multiple competitions, the company has connected the booking system with the finance system, thus eliminating repetitive work. We also created an app that helps customers navigate the trail Peaks of the Balkans.

The discussion tried to answer the question posed at the beginning of this text: What can't artificial intelligence do in tourism? What happens to services that are fully digitized and how have some technologies failed?

Starting from the last question, the technology that was trumpeted as a game changer and has already disappeared from tourism, is "virtual reality". Advertising destinations with virtual reality technology or replacing travel with experiences through virtual glasses has not taken off and is now almost gone. Both these efforts have failed to succeed and have remained on the margins. According to Peter Symeit, this technology has failed because its starting point was based on technology rather than people.

The second question of complete digitalization of tourist services is possible, but then an experience turns into a commodity or a service and, with this, the profit margins of the company per customer are greatly reduced. In this way, success is linked to selling a large number of services. An example of such digitization is airplane flights and the ticketing process. In the world market, this has put out of the game many airlines that have provided good services at medium or high prices, replacing them with low-cost agencies.

The third issue is what differentiates service from experience, or the billion dollar question: How do we keep profit margins high? This "magic" remains to be identified by each business. to Balkan Natural Adventure, based on our customer survey, we have learned why we offer experience and not just service.

Unfortunately, on the Peaks of the Balkans trail, according to the survey results for the years 2023 and 2024, accommodation and transfer services have declined. Also, experiencing nature is no longer the same as before, due to the increase in the number of visitors. The part that has improved is the service of our office in the organization, as well as our guides who are always on top of their duties. Until now, the company, which has a steady growth trajectory, has managed to sell experiences, but also services for those who want to organize their own experiences. We have achieved this success through the service of self-guided tours - or as they are now known all over the world, "Self-Guided Tours".