Artificial Intelligence (AI), the latest global phenomenon, was a major focus at the Caribbean Tourism Organisation’s (CTO) Caribbean Week in New York, where a Ministerial forum looked at leveraging AI for tourism development.
During the discussions, Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, said this technology will be the new frontier for Caribbean tourism. “It must be harnessed properly to enable more seamlessness within the industry.”
The Ministerial forum entitled “Leveraging Artificial Intelligence” took place at the Intercontinental Hotel in New York on Tuesday.
Bartlett said the human race has always created better ways of doing things. And, AI forms part of this era of doing things better through technological applications.
“We are at an exciting time in tourism’s history where if leveraged correctly. We will improve our processes and ultimately make more targeted and strategic decisions.
“Our tourism workers are at the core of our industry. They must drive change in what will become the new tourism landscape that will include artificial intelligence.
“They must receive training to understand the needs of the landscape to be able to adapt and respond,” Bartlett said.
The Ministerial panel formed part of the programme for CTO Caribbean Week.
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It included Chester Cooper, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation for the Bahamas, Kenneth Bryan, CTO Chairman and Minister of Tourism and Ports for the Cayman Islands and Lee Hall, Founder of Clarity Media.
“AI is letting you know before you go, which means our potential customers can experience destinations before they book.
“We, therefore, need to be ready, through training, to promote the integrity and uniqueness of our products and services in advance so when our visitors come, they get what we promised,” Bartlett said.
The panel agreed that the Caribbean needed to harness the power of AI to benefit the industry.
With tourism being an increasingly dynamic industry, it can utilise AI to enhance the region’s offerings to attract more visitors.
“Already, Jamaica has embraced new technologies to increase the efficiency of our tourism product with our website AI chatbots.
“The chatbots will respond to queries in real-time, enabling destination content for the metaverse and looking at using media mix modelling,” the minister added. (eTurboNews)
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