Despegar and Almundo: now you can "prove" a destination before the trip with virtual reality

Emanuel becomes tired from an intense work day. He throws himself in the armchair of his living room, puts on his virtual reality glasses and decides to observe the sea of ââthe calm beaches of Bora Bora. He relaxes and convinces himself: that will be the next destination he wishes to meet.

Although this scene seems futuristic, it is already possible to perform. Several companies and online tourism agencies are taking advantage of Virtual Reality (RV) and Augmented Reality (RA) so that their customers can choose with greater security the hotels and destinations they plan to visit.

These technologies offer two different ways of interacting with the cell phone camera: VR allows you to immerse yourself in a totally digitally recreated environment; while the RA combines elements of real life that capture the phone with virtual elements.

"According to a study we conducted, 31% of travelers around the world like to have a virtual tourism agent at home, that is activated with the voice and that responds to all your doubts before traveling. of every five respondents said he wants to use technologies such as augmented reality to familiarize himself with the destination before arriving, "reveals Luiz Cegato, manager of Communication and Public Relations at Booking.com for Latin America.

In Almundo they are already using this technology. Through the RV simulate a destination and compare it with others, so the passenger can live the virtual experience and easily identify where he wants to travel.

For its part, Despegar is studying the use of these tools in different instances, in order to enhance their service.

"Functionalities such as size of a hand luggage to know whether or not to dispatch, or explore a hotel or its rooms and virtually check their characteristics are examples in which we are working to see what value they could bring to users" , confesses Leandro Malandrini, director of Product Management and UX of Despegar. While recognizing that they are interesting technologies to complement a good travel experience.

Having the possibility of knowing digitally and in a more "real" way a destination, a room in a hotel or any component of the trip could be very useful in the decisions that customers have to make.
These technologies make it possible to extend this previous research into an experience that involves all the senses, that you can live a little while as if you were in the place you want to know, "says Thomas Allier, CEO and co-founder of Viajala, iProUP.

In addition, the executive adds that, if these tools are integrated into airports and airplanes, tourists can start their adventure from the moment they leave their home.

"And once the traveler landed, you can improve your experience in hotels, restaurants and during tours of the city through interaction with maps, menus and smart rooms," he summarizes.

The transformation
Although Viajala is not yet developing immersive applications, Allier believes that they will surely use them in the near future.

"We could incorporate solutions that allow them to choose with greater knowledge about flight and destination, add gadgets (devices) that make the trip more enjoyable and also accompany that traveler during their stay, interacting with the destination and providing useful information when needed "he says.

Although all interviewees agree that the RV and the RA will add value to the sector, the Despegar executive does not believe that they radically transform the industry in the short and medium term, as did smartphones or machine learning ( machine learning) with the use of algorithms to improve the search experience and choice of products or destinations.

"There are even some new trends that could have a greater impact in the coming years, such as VoiceAssistant," he said at the iProUP consultation.

Like Despegar, Booking.com is also investing in machine learning with the aim of improving the customer experience.

"We are already offering a pilot trial of 'BookingAssistant', an artificial intelligence chatbot that provides support for reservations through a single intuitive chat interface, now only available in English, but will soon be extended to others. languages, "says Cegato.

In addition, the Booking.com executive argues that artificial intelligence and digital technology are already changing the way users search, book and enjoy their trips.

Based on studies conducted by the company among its users around the world, 29% of travelers said they feel comfortable allowing a computer to organize their next trip taking into account their history. While 64% said they would like to use virtual reality to be able to 'try' before buying.

Innovating is the key
The tourism sector promises to continue its growth. The increase in idle time, added to the fact that millennials are more likely to spend more money on trips than their parents and grandparents, predicts an excellent future.

On the other hand, those born and raised in the Internet age demand faster, immediate and satisfactory services. And this is where innovative technologies become a fundamental ingredient to be able to compete in this industry.

Faced with this panorama, Despegar organized a hackathon a few weeks ago.

"Our team developed a solution that allows, through the barcode scan of the DNI, a process of automatic loading of the passenger data, thus, using the Despegar application, customers can speed up the purchase process and prevent errors in data loading, "says Malandrini.

On the future of technology in his company, the executive says that they pursue an ambitious goal: to shorten the time of purchases with credit cards, without the need to type anything when plastics enter.

Other trends that are treading strong in this sector are Artificial Intelligence and its branches: machine learning.

"Since we founded our company we use this technology to make recommendations to the traveler, we suggest, for example, to move its departure date one day if we see that it is significantly cheaper, or we indicate the probabilities that exist that the price of the flight is looking for increase or decrease in the future, "says the co-founder of Viajala.

For his part, Cegato adds: "We believe that there was never a better time to be at the center of this dynamic sector, and we will continue to look for and test new technologies to further eliminate the friction of travel."

Finally, the CEO of Viajala highlights: "Technological innovation in this industry has just begun, but there are many challenges ahead to continue its expansion."

Temas relacionados