Skift Travel News Blog

Hurtigruten Norway has unveiled the early concept designs for its first zero-emission ship, which is set to feature ‘numerous firsts and improved solutions that do not exist on cruise ships today.’

Initially announced by the Cruise Line in March 2022 as part of its ‘Sea Zero‘ project, the new designs showcase the vessels proposed retractable sails fitted with solar panels, which will be featured alongside an array of cutting-edge technologies, including contra-rotating propellers, multiple retractable thrusters, air lubrication systems, advanced hull coatings, and proactive hull cleaning.

Hurtigruten Norway predicts that advanced AI maneuvering capabilities will significantly reduce the size of the ship’s bridge and mimic that of an aircraft cockpit, with further AI technologies set to optimize docking operations by gathering real-time data for continuous operational improvement.

Guests are also set to play a key role in ensuring the green credentials of the vessel thanks to an on-board interactive app, where they will be able to monitor their water and energy consumption.

“When we initially announced the ‘Sea Zero’ project over a year ago, we were faced with the challenge of not knowing which technologies would be available to us in 2030. Our task was to pave the way for new innovations and enhance existing ones to align with our sustainability objectives. While some of these technologies have reached a relatively advanced stage, they still necessitate dedicated research and development to ensure successful implementation within the maritime context,” said Hedda Felin, CEO of Hurtigruten Norway.

“On the other hand, certain technologies are still in early development and require fundamental research and thorough testing. Following a rigorous feasibility study, we have pinpointed the most promising technologies for our groundbreaking future cruise ships. We are committed to delivering a ship that surpasses all others in terms of energy efficiency and sustainability within just a few years.”

The concept has now embarked on a two-year testing phase, where the proposed technologies will undergo further trials and development.

At the Skift IDEA Awards, we are looking for the organizations elevating the travel industry’s role as a force for good by affecting meaningful change, including the sustainability projects that are creating a positive impact for the planet.

If you have an exciting project to share, head to the Skift IDEA Awards today and start your submission. The final deadline for entries is June 20, 2023.

At the World Travel Catering & Onboard Services Expo (WTCE) in Hamburg this week, dnata – one of the world’s largest air services providers – offered attendees a glimpse into the future of its catering capabilities with a demonstration of its new AI-powered cooking robot.

Developed by Moley Robotics, the cooking-machine utilizes AI technology to follow pre-recorded chef instructions, and is equipped with ‘multiple sensors and machine learning capabilities, enabling it to precisely measure ingredients and execute complex cooking techniques’.

You can take a look at one of Moley Robotics’ cooking machines in action below:

“We are excited to showcase a revolutionary cooking robot alongside our world-class culinary and retail offering at the World Travel Catering & Onboard Services Expo,” Said Robin Padgett, CEO of dnata Catering & Retail.

“We are constantly looking for ways to further improve quality and efficiency by leveraging the latest technologies, including artificial intelligence and automation, across our global network. In recent years we have implemented a number of sophisticated solutions to optimise various aspects of our operations, ranging from consumption analysis to ingredient sourcing, inventory and waste management. We will continue to closely monitor trends and further integrate AI into our operations to harness the power of innovation.”

The cooking robot is the latest addition to dnata’s robotic line-up, with ‘Bella’ the hospitality robot already in operation in the UAE at Sharjah Airport’s (SHJ) lounge along with its partner, ‘Kitty’. 

At the 2023 Skift IDEA Awards, we are looking to the future of travel by highlighting the creative designs, technologies, and innovations that are driving the future of travel.

If you have an exciting initiative or innovation that deserves to be celebrated, head over to the Skift IDEA Awards and start your application today. The deadline for submissions is June 20, 2023.

Choice Hotels sees a potential in generative AI (artificial intelligence) to reshape the hotel sector, according to an interview chief information officer Brian Kirkland did on Bloomberg TV right before the U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend.

“To be commercially viable, and to be something that really transforms how we do business, … we need to make sure that we can securely use it. So how do we get private data sets in there? How do we curate the answers to make sure that … the right answer is coming back that’s curated and accurate, and not based on old data? That’s something we’re talking about with some of our partners. When [that’s available], it will be transformative.”

—Brian Kirkland of Choice Hotels

Kirkland speculated that generative AI could help guests find answers faster about properties and help Choice Hotels franchisees to figure out the right type of business strategy or even the policies around how they run their business.

Full interview here:

UPDATE: The original post misspelled Brian Kirkland’s name. Apologies.

Airbnb has been out there a lot these last couple of weeks talking about its new product updates and launches, and CEO and Co-Founder Brian Chesky has been surprisingly open about what went wrong from the original vision, how he runs the company and what’s coming in the company’s AI-driven future, even beyond its core.

Now in a new interview on The Verge’s Decoder podcast, while he goes over the familiar territory he has talked about to me and others in recent days, he also articulates that his future vision for Airbnb is. Worth reading/listening to the short clip, and gives hints to community and connection, which currently is more varpoware in Airbnb’s main product than reality, as being the main focus going ahead, in areas beyond its core of accommodation.

“Our vision for this company is the following: that Airbnb is a marriage of art and science, that we’re a truly creatively-led company. Our two core values are basically design creativity married with technologies and then this idea of community and connection. A company with this real humanistic feel that you come to Airbnb, we ask you a series of questions.

We learn about you. We understand who you are, what you want. We design these incredibly simple interfaces, and then our job as a host is we develop these really robust matching algorithms, and then we can match you to whatever you want. 

And so if we can build this incredibly robust identity system, if we can have the most robust profiles, almost like a physical social network where we can connect people together in this community, if we can use AI to augment customer service, to deeply understand and resolve your issues within seconds, not just minutes or hours, and we can then build these incredibly simple interfaces where we match you to whatever you want in your life, that’s basically the idea of where we’re trying to go. And Jony Ive and his team, they’re working on things just in that area.”

The Vienna Tourist Board has launched UnArtificial Art, a marketing campaign designed to ‘promote the city’s 100+ museums in order to “See the Art behind AI Art”’.

The new campaign sees famous figures from the world’s most acclaimed artists transformed into the internet’s universally adored animal – the cat – using the power of Artificial Intelligence. 

One such example featured in the campaign is a mash up of Gustav Klimt’s ‘Kiss’, which sees the much adored lovers transformed into cats, still wearing the intricately decorated robes and positioned in the iconic lovers embrace.

“With so much artificial intelligence (AI) invading lives – particularly with programs like DALL-E or Midjourney that allow anyone to create “works of art” – Vienna wants to remind visitors of who made that all possible in the first place” said Norbert Kettner, Vienna Tourist Board’s CEO.

“The campaign aims to show that AI art is only possible because an algorithm references real works made by real humans, and the originals can often only be seen in Vienna. The Viennese Modernism movement that revolutionized the artworld over a century ago continues to live on and affect today’s art through the algorithms that guide AI creations,” he continued.

As part of the campaign, the Vienna Tourist Board has also released a short film with art expert Markus Hübl, which aims to showcase the art that made AI possible. You can view the video below:

This isn’t the first time AI has been used in a marketing campaign, with VisitDenmark turning to the power of artificial intelligence for a marketing campaign launched earlier this year.

At the Skift IDEA Awards, we are looking for advertising campaigns created with the intent to drive action.

If you have an initiative to share, head to the Skift IDEA Awards and start your submission today.

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky was very open with me in the interview I did with him earlier this week, where he tantalizingly hinted at how Airbnb will change in the next year, much of it predicated on AI.

In it, here are the few long range things he talked about: “We’re going to launch a whole bunch of new things in the next couple years…Basically the short answer is next May you’re going to see a whole new Airbnb. AI’s going to be at the center of it…The real vision is what if there Airbnb app could be almost like the ultimate host, the ultimate concierge… Each thing is going to get bigger and bigger. November will be pretty big. A year from now will be huge, it’ll be really big.” He told me that in the short term, Airbnb will focus on improving customer service and summarizing reviews using AI, and by next year a conversational AI interface will come to the Airbnb app.

But what is coming beyond these somewhat obvious changes at Airbnb? Chesky elaborated on some of these in a podcast interview with Jason Calacanis on “This Week in Startups” including the hint that Airbnb is planning to move beyond its core of travel, in the next few years, though the timeline is fuzzy, at one time he said in the next year and later in the podcast he said next 3-5 years. Some extracts from the rough auto-transcript that leads me to believe the expansion of Airbnb beyond travel will be in the connection, matching and personalization realm, though exactly how is of course unclear for now.

“We have some big ideas coming. We have some really huge ideas that I think will expand Airbnb way beyond travel way beyond our core. It’s gonna launch next year…AI’s gonna unlock so many of them, but we don’t have permission to do new things things until people love our core service. So we’re gonna basically create a blueprint of every single thing people are complaining about.”

“The third, and this is more on the opportunity, is monthly stays. That’s a growing part of our business. People think of us as a travel company, but 20% of our businesses now housing and Airbnb, there’s a lot of problems with monthly stays.”

“And If you and I both ask ChatGPT a question, we mostly get the same answer and we mostly get the same answer because it doesn’t know who you or I am. And that’s great for some questions like what was the like, you know like how far is the moon from the sun or whatever. Like there’s one right answer, but if you ask like, where should I travel? Your answer and my answer are probably different. And so some problems are search problems, some problems are kind of matching and personalization preferences, problems….so what we wanna do is we wanna be one of the best companies for AI personalization. So we wanna develop really good tune models to do that. We have to change our business. And actually one of the questions that Johnny Ive told me when we brought him on the team is he said you need to switch from beyond “where and when.” Right now you ask where are you going and when are you going? And we need to shift to who and what. Who are you and what do you want? And that’s really the vision. And so who we wanna do is we want to build these robust profiles. I want to start to learn Jason, who you are, build really good rich customer information. And then I can understand and personalize like where do you want to go? And also what do you want in your life? Like you looking for inspiration, what are you, what are you looking for?”

“Do you like want to get healthy? Do you, you know, and you start to learn about people. And then we’re also pretty good interfaces and the application layer and I think that Airbnb, that’s where we’re really, really gonna focus. We’re gonna focus on the tuning of the models, the most personalized AI interface and then really good application interfaces. Now I think as far as interface, I don’t think they’re all gonna be just text-based…Like Charles Eames, one of the greatest in our 20th century said the role of designer is that of a thoughtful host anticipating needs of the guests. So that’s what we should do. And we understand who are you, what do you want, where do you want to go?”

AND this is the most interesting thing Chesky said: “And maybe it, we could even go beyond travel if we get there, right? And the part of that means you have to trust us to give us your personal information. It means we have to be a marriage of art and science. It means we have to understand a lot about like human psychology and know what you want. It’s not just a technical problem. We have to design unique AI interfaces that are probably richer than just text inputs because you know like, like you want to, you want to see and feel things, right? And, and and I think it’s much more immersive. So that’s where I think it goes. That’s like the long-term vision in the interim. And that’s probably long-term is in three to five years. I mean that’s not even that long term. Yeah. In the next year what we’re gonna do is three things.”

“You come to Airbnb and it looks the same as it did the last time you came. Yeah. And we’re like a marketplace and everything’s a transaction and we assume you’re like we don’t know anything about you and you just walked into a store and we got a bunch of stuff on a shelf. Yeah. And I think that’s a very 1990s, two thousands Amazon paradigm of commerce. And I think the future of commerce is more like somebody’s showing you around and they understand you deeply and you have so much more control and it’s significantly more personalized and everyone has a unique experience. And so that’s where I think it goes. And I think that we don’t have a search problem in the future. We have a matching problem. So we are gonna use AI to match you to whatever you want.”

“I think in the age of artificial intelligence, the other thing people want is authenticity. And authenticity is whatever’s real and whatever’s authenticated. So I think our brand is kind of authenticity. Like we’re not gonna ever be the most digitally immersive company that’s gonna be social media or entertainment. Our value is really the physical world. We get you online, offline with people different from you all over the world. And that comes with starting with knowing who you are, authenticating your identity.”

Watch the full podcast interview, here:

Hostaway, which offers property management software to vacation rentals, has launched a ChatGPT-powered artificial intelligence tool. 

All of its property managers and channel manager clients will have the option to use the tool to manage listings and increase bookings, by perfecting listings. 

The tool will match the tone of voice and professional style to each operators’ brand and audience to create brand consistency.

“We take pride in responding quickly to developments in technology and the wider travel industry,” Saber Kordestanchi, Hostaway co-founder and chief operating officer, said. “ AI is going to transform the experience of property managers as well as guests and this is just the first of many enhancements we expect to make.”

Last month, a property operations platform for short-term rentals Breezeway launched ChatGPT-powered artificial intelligence tools within its platform.Labeled as Assist AI, the tool will introduce a series of automation features including guest messaging, reservations, property profile and other data. 

Watch the short 10-minute video below as Skift CEO Rafat Ali explains how conversational AI boom will change travel search and booking. This is a follow-up on his first video for the new era of radical innovation in travel booking.

Emirates has launched its City Check-in and Travel Store in Dubai’s financial district, featuring Sara, a portable robotic check-in assistant designed to assist customers when booking their travels, checking-in for flights and dropping off their luggage. 

Situated at ICD Brookfield Place, the remote check-in centre will enable customers to enhance their experience by utilizing self check-in kiosks, dedicated desks with Emirates agents, or with the assitance of Sara – who has the ability to match faces with scanned passports, check passengers in, and guide them to the luggage drop area.

“Emirates City Check In is our latest addition to the Emirates travel experience, showing our commitment to providing customers with an array of check-in options,” said Adel al Redha, Emirates’ chief operating officer.

“We are pleased to collaborate with ICD Brookfield on this project and look forward to providing our customers with more technology-focused solutions in the future.” 

Emirates passengers holding valid boarding passes will also enjoy complimentary access to selected lifestyle facilities within the venue, including various restaurants, gyms, and luxury stores on site.

At the 2023 Skift IDEA Awards, we are looking for the most innovative travel technologies that drive experiential outcomes, from mobile applications to online booking systems, self-service kiosks, and other advanced technologies.

Do you have an innovative Technology product that deserves recognition? Head to the Skift IDEA Awards and start your submission today.

Yelp has for months been testing how it could use the latest generation of artificial intelligence (AI) without undermining the trust of the consumers who use it to find business listings. On Wednesday, the U.S.-based user-generated reviews company released an updated search interface based on these advances.

For instance, a search for places serving “breakfast” will no longer merely return listings with the specific word “breakfast” tagged or mentioned. It will now also highlight listings that mention relevant words, such as eggs and pancakes, said Craig Saldanha, chief product officer.

Yelp’s search does tricks like this by taking advantage of artificial intelligence (AI) and so-called large language models to help match consumers with the most relevant local businesses when they have a specific or nuanced need. It’s tapping technology similar to chatbot ChatGBT and other generative artificial intelligence programs.

“By leveraging these technologies to analyze the vast amounts of our user-generated content, in the future, we’ll be able to quickly, precisely, and succinctly summarize insights and provide personalized recommendations based on your search intent,” the company said.

The changes were among several others announced by Yelp on Wednesday.

Skift readers can get context by reading this month’s roundup on generative AI’s impact on the travel industry. Skift Research subscribers can learn more with the just-released report: Generative AI’s Impact on Travel.

“Can you write me lyrics of a new song about the travel industry buzzwords such as local, REVPAR, experiences, NDC, duty of care, AI, transformative travel, regenerative travel, overtourism, bleisure and revenge travel?”

That was the prompt I gave to both ChatGPT (now about four months into its public life) and Google Bard (only one day into its public release), as a way to test the capabilities of the two AI chat agents that have captured the imagination of the globe. And the travel industry and various applications to come.

Not really the most scientific of tests but if any of them can navigate the travel industry buzzwords and put them into context and rhyme, that would be a win in itself. So here, the results of the test:

ChatGPT:

Verse 1: I’m packing up my bags, got a thirst for something new
The world’s a playground, there’s so much to pursue
I’m chasing down the buzzwords, the trends of the day
Got a checklist of experiences that I wanna play

Chorus: Local, REVPAR, transformative travel too
NDC, duty of care, AI, and regenerative views
Overtourism, bleisure, revenge travel’s on my mind
I’m a traveler on a mission, gotta leave it all behind

Verse 2:
I wanna be where the locals go, not the tourist traps
I wanna try the street food and feel the city’s pulse
I’m looking for that perfect balance, between work and play
Bleisure is the name of the game, gotta find my way

Chorus:
Local, REVPAR, transformative travel too
NDC, duty of care, AI, and regenerative views
Overtourism, bleisure, revenge travel’s on my mind
I’m a traveler on a mission, gotta leave it all behind

Verse 3:
I’m mindful of the impact, that my travels have
Regenerative travel’s what I’m looking for, gotta give back
I’m learning about the culture, the history and the art
Transformative travel’s my goal, gotta open up my heart

Chorus:
Local, REVPAR, transformative travel too
NDC, duty of care, AI, and regenerative views
Overtourism, bleisure, revenge travel’s on my mind
I’m a traveler on a mission, gotta leave it all behind

Verse 4:
But sometimes I just wanna let loose, let my hair down
Revenge travel’s what I need, gotta paint the town
I’ll party like it’s 2019, forget about my woes
Overtourism’s not my problem, gotta strike a pose

Chorus:
Local, REVPAR, transformative travel too
NDC, duty of care, AI, and regenerative views
Overtourism, bleisure, revenge travel’s on my mind
I’m a traveler on a mission, gotta leave it all behind

Outro:
I’m a traveler on a mission, gotta leave it all behind
Gotta chase those buzzwords, gotta see what I can find.

And now, Google Bard’s attempt:

(Verse 1)
I’m in the travel industry,
And I’m here to tell you about the buzzwords
That are all the rage these days.

Local is the new black,
REVPAR is the name of the game,
And experiences are what it’s all about.

NDC is the future of travel,
Duty of care is our responsibility,
And transformative travel is the way to go.

Regenerative travel is the way to heal the planet,
And overtourism is a real problem,
But AI can help us solve it.

Bleisure is the new way to work,
And revenge travel is the way to get back at the pandemic.

(Chorus)
So come on, let’s travel the world,
And experience all that it has to offer.

Let’s make a difference in the world,
And leave it a better place than we found it.

Let’s travel responsibly,
And make sure that we’re not contributing to the problem.

Let’s travel with a purpose,
And make sure that we’re making a difference.

(Verse 2)
The travel industry is a powerful force,
And we can use it to make a difference in the world.

So let’s get out there and explore,
And let’s make the most of this amazing planet.

(Chorus) So come on, let’s travel the world,
And experience all that it has to offer.

Let’s make a difference in the world,
And leave it a better place than we found it.

Let’s travel responsibly,
And make sure that we’re not contributing to the problem.

Let’s travel with a purpose,
And make sure that we’re making a difference.

My verdict: ChatGPT wins hands down, for rhyming, for being more playful AND putting the buzzwords into right context, in other words, more Skifty. Bard was more literal, boring and didn’t rhyme at all, in other words, like the other boring travel trades.

There it is, never accuse us of not worrying about the future of travel, you can now go about your day.