The conditions for earning their trust are equally clear. Some 54% demand transparency about the role the agent plays, and 52% point both to data protection safeguards and to proven reliability. It is not enough to launch a dazzling assistant: companies must explain what it does and what information it handles.
Some companies have already got down to work. The hotel group Accor introduced ALL Concierge in September, a conversational assistant that operates in eleven languages and is available on its website, in its app and through WhatsApp and iMessage. Its development drew on more than a million conversations gathered during the pilot phase, and human teams still take care of complex requests. The company has also introduced an internal artificial intelligence companion so that employees can quickly access operational information. Virgin Atlantic, for its part, has launched a digital concierge to plan flights and holidays on its websites, able to interact through text, voice and other formats.
These moves reveal an increasingly clear division of labour. Technology takes on the repetitive, fast and easily standardised tasks: answering questions before booking, comparing options, settling routine matters. Staff are left with what demands judgement, empathy and knowledge of the destination. A report by Resonance and the European Travel Commission, produced this year, points the same way: artificial intelligence can improve communication before booking and routine processes, while experienced advisers, cultural encounters and personalised service retain their importance.
Some caution is nevertheless in order. The analysis itself admits that the available research does not yet show that artificial intelligence has increased tourist arrivals or spending per traveller. We are therefore looking at a plausible and well-reasoned trend rather than a conclusively quantified phenomenon. Nor do the McKinsey figures come exclusively from the tourism sector, and marketing managers would do well not to confuse technological interest with economic return.
Even so, the underlying idea is a suggestive one. When any brand can offer an assistant that answers at any hour and in several languages, that service stops being a privilege and becomes a minimum requirement. What will be scarce, and therefore valuable, is the eye of a professional who senses what the guest has not yet asked for, the unhurried conversation with a local guide, or the discretion of a team that knows when to step in and when to disappear. In the words of the text, human connection could become an increasingly valuable distinction as automated experiences become commonplace.
For luxury destinations, the lesson is twofold. On one hand, investing in digital tools that ease the administrative burden and improve communication with the customer is no longer optional. On the other, training and retaining well-paid staff with command of languages and cultural sensitivity looks like the best investment in differentiation. Whoever manages to combine the two in balance will be better placed to attract a traveller who wants efficiency without giving up human warmth.
