Navigating the Conversational AI Landscape

IN TODAY’S DIGITAL-FIRST WORLD, the way attractions engage with potential guests is rapidly evolving with conversational artificial intelligence (AI) at the forefront of the transformation. When website visitors open a page looking for operating hours, tickets, or season pass options, they usually click through multiple pages. With conversational AI, a friendly chat window pops up on a user’s screen, allowing potential guests to engage in a natural conversation, all with the goal of providing them with answers instantly.

With 80% of customers now valuing their user experience just as much as a product itself, implementing an effective conversational AI solution can be a game-changer for an attraction. These advanced systems are powered by natural language processing (NLP) and large language models (LLM). Both are arms of AI that allows computers to interpret, understand, and manipulate human language. Both NLPs and LLMs go far beyond simple chatbots. They can handle complex tasks, conduct nuanced conversations, and seamlessly escalate to human support when needed.

The impact on an attraction can be profound—handling up to 95% of routine inquiries automatically and potentially improving purchase rates by 100 times. An NLP and LLM chatbot can also foster brand loyalty with its engaging interactions, all while mining valuable business insights from guest conversations.

When selecting the right conversational AI platform, decision makers at attractions should focus on four key pillars: technology, trust, features, and service.

The technology aspect is crucial. An attraction’s marketing team needs to understand how the AI integrates NLP with recent generative AI advancements, along with its approach to understanding and comprehending strategies to prevent “hallucinated” responses. These are responses generated by a model that are false or misleading.

Trust is equally important, with 77% of business leaders expressing concerns about AI data issues—especially when it comes to meeting the gold standard of measures: the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) European Union law and SOC2, a cybersecurity compliance framework that guides an organization’s protection of client data.

Attractions need to look for vendors who prioritize data protection and inclusivity. They also should ask potential tech partners about security measures and compliance standards.

Feature-wise, attractions should consider how the platform integrates with its existing systems, the ability to handle multimedia content, and conversational flow features. Lastly, evaluate the level of service and support a vendor offers—a dedicated account manager and comprehensive training can make a world of difference in an attraction’s AI implementation journey.

Attractions should source an AI solution that not only meets their current needs, but can also grow and adapt as an attraction grows, whether that be offering upgrades like behind-the-scenes tours, dining reservations, or lodging.

The right conversational AI platform has the power to revolutionize an attraction’s customer engagement strategy, while streamlining operations and providing invaluable insights and data.