WITHOUT the lambaste and fanfare often associated with new technological trends, chatbots have crept their way into social messaging applications and are being used by travel companies to engage with their customers.
Skyscanner made known this week that users can now search for flights or get destination inspiration conversationally via Facebook Messenger, the first metasearch engine to implement such technology.
The chatbot is powered by several internal components, such as its flights API data and machine learning of user search trends. For instance, users can simply type “not sure” when the chatbot asks where they wish to go, and suggestions given will be tailored to each user based on what the bot knows about that person.
“The messaging economy and conversational search are areas which we believe are incredibly important evolutionary features for the travel industry. It has been a top priority for us to take a pioneering approach when it comes to building a bot for Facebook Messenger,” said Filip Filipov, director of B2B at Skyscanner.
“We want to make travel search as easily accessible as possible, and believe that the launch of our Messenger bot will allow more people to search for their travel in a fun and informative way.”
Explaining why this is taking off in the travel space, Fergal Kelly, chief commercial officer at Mobile Travel Technologies (MTT), told TTG Asia e-Daily during the sidelines of Travelport LIVE APAC Customer Conference 2016: “The first instinct (for many people) these days is to text. It’s how they interact with each other and it’s how they expect to manage and sort out their lives. What chatbots are simply doing is allow them to interact that way.
“(Even as social technologies evolve), people still want to be treated like a human, an individual customer. Chatbots come as an efficient way of servicing this need compared to (having someone) take a call, for example.”
Meanwhile, hotel operators such as Onyx Hospitality, with brands like Amari Hotels and Resorts and Ozo under their belt, have integrated chatbots with their property management systems, offering guests round-the-clock automated chat services with the hotel.
They take a blended approach however, with chatbots replying automatically to customers while at the same time allowing the option for hotel staff to also conduct “real” chats via the integrated system developed by Hong Kong-based hospitality solutions provider StayPlease.
Said founder and CEO of StayPlease, Alan Sun: “Guests can choose to interact through visual interfaces (on the chat apps) to request service amenities, but they can also simply type it out (like having a) normal conversation.”
Hotel customers of StayPlease are currently offered integrated solutions on an array of social chat apps, including WeChat, Whatsapp, Line, Facebook Messenger, Skype and Telegram. Services that guests can request via chat range from room upgrades to in-room dining as well as car, spa and restaurant bookings.
On the airline front, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is a pioneer, offering real-time 24/7 social media interaction as a service with their customers since 2009. They don’t use chatbots at all however, preferring instead to hire a dedicated team of over 200 service agents.
But the big idea remains the same and they have even taken this a step further as of end-March this year.
Via Facebook Messenger, customers can check booking and check-in details, as well as be given boarding pass and flight status updates, the only airline to do so. Passengers can also contact KLM’s social media service agents directly on the same platform.
“We believe we should be where our customers are,” said Pieter Elbers, president and CEO of KLM.
“Our customers feel comfortable sharing info with us via a more personal platform like Messenger. Last year, we activated the Messenger button on our Facebook page, allowing customers to contact KLM even more directly via private messaging. Cases increased by 40 per cent, which shows customers appreciate this form of communication.”
Kelly observes that this is a positive move by brands to better cater to customer needs.
He said: “What we are seeing is a call to action in travel, like in any other industry, to build a relationship where customers already are, whether it’s Whatsapp, WeChat or Facebook Messenger. The brand has to follow.”
Still, “it is very early days so it’s not yet possible to see what the impact is”, he warns, advising that “(as such apps proliferate), it is important to find the balance between interaction and irritation.”
When asked if Kelly’s customers at MTT, which include the likes of Singapore Airlines and BCD Travel, and recently Etihad Airways, are looking into this, he said: “Yes, everybody is looking at it right now and it’s a very current topic.”
