The tourism industry is and will be one of the most important economic sectors worldwide and in the case of the DR, it is a key pillar of the economy, so it is necessary that the sector and the entire economy assume the changes introduced by the advance of digitization and the impacting changes, already posed by the development of artificial intelligence.
The observation was made by Haydée Rainieri, member of the board of directors of the Puntacana Group, in her participation as guest speaker at the monthly luncheon of the American Chamber of Commerce in which she offered the conference “The Tourism Industry and Artificial Intelligence”, and analyzed the current and future incidence of the new contribution of the digital revolution.
He stated that the scenario of the coming years will be defined by the analysis of the World Tourism Organization (UN-Tourism), which predicts that by 2030, the arrival of international tourists will reach 1.8 billion, and in the next twenty years there will be a continued growth of the sector. Our country’s goal is to have 1.5 tourists per inhabitant, which would represent 15 million by 2030.
The speaker pointed out that the facts show that the tourism industry is highly resilient and human beings are not willing to stop traveling. “So we would dare to say that the economic future of the Dominican Republic, in the short and medium term, will continue to be based on the tourism industry. Provided we are able to adapt to the changes and needs of travelers and the challenges posed by digitalization.”
In recent decades, explained the speaker, the development of networks generated an important transformation that allowed the connection and interaction with photos and videos between people millions of kilometers away, which created “a greater interest in knowing destinations, driving the massive development of the tourism industry”.
She emphasized that the tourism industry “today is entering a new stage with the emergence of artificial intelligence as a new source of transformation for societies and businesses”; and we are already seeing that impact; and cited the experience of the Puntacana Group on the website of its Tortuga Bay hotel with “VELMA”, “our virtual assistant that speaks 24 languages interacts with the questions of users, recommends and makes all kinds of interaction”.
Haydée Rainieri highlighted that using AI involves risks, including the displacement of workers that must be foreseen, but beyond the risks, “there is the reality of AI with its multiple benefits, which will radically transform our economy and our society”; and to take advantage of its benefits for our economy and to the tourism sector, “we will have to face some challenges”.
Source: Arecoa.com
