Director of Tourism Donovan White announced at the 3rd Global Tourism Resilience Conference that starting this week the agency’s chatbot will converse in up to 10 languages for potential visitors.

While speaking to the chatbot via telephone at the conference in western Jamaica on Tuesday, White highlighted that the artificial intelligence (AI) software can assist potential visitors to the island with travel arrangements.

However, he outlined that there is still room for improvement as it relates to the potential of AI.

“There is enormous potential that is yet to be realised, like audio AI, which is something that we are currently building, and we are hoping to bring it to market this year,” White said. “Audio AI is one of the newest frontiers of the AI platform development mechanism, and we are certainly looking to be at the absolute forefront of this evolution in 2025.”

He emphasised that since the emergence of AI, the tourism industry has utilised this tool to improve features like customer experience and reduce costs. “From the initial spark of deciding where to travel to preplanning that visit to then visiting the destination all the way to departure, AI has given useful tools to make the travel process seamless.

“Tools like the chatbot have also been used to streamline air and hotel bookings, automate at the airports, and optimise baggage handling,” he continued.

White further indicated that AI has also provided AI travel agents, which assist with complex travel requests. “They search online for the best deals, make hotel recommendations, and develop itineraries.”

However, he highlighted that while some travellers find AI a useful tool, they are still conducting investigations to ensure that their travel arrangements are carefully thought out. “Travellers are still doing their due diligence of researching on their own through the online travel forums, working with trusted travel advisors, and visiting the destination’s website for recommendations,” he said.

White stated that the human element of travel is irreplaceable because there are actions that AI cannot perform.

“Only humans can provide insights into particularities like the best time to visit a location for an excursion, who at the hotel mixes the best drink, or offers the best rates through personal contacts. AI, unfortunately, won’t pick up those complexities and won’t give you those deliberate responses,” White added. “So authenticity is still an important aspect in the travel planning process, and we don’t see that disappearing anytime soon”.

Organisations utilising AI

White stated that though Jamaica is known for its warm hospitality and long-standing expertise in the field of Caribbean tourism, several tourism partners have begun to utilise AI to improve guest experiences. “At the Montego Bay and Norman Manley International airports, we now use automated kiosks equipped with biometric face scanning technology to provide a streamlined arrival experience, which frees up border agents to pursue other security-related tasks,” he said.

He noted that by the end of 2024, the Jamaica Tourist Board successfully installed over 100 passport control kiosks and 15 e-gates across Jamaica’s two international airports.

“Our AI-powered chatbot, which is our virtual travel specialist on visitjamaica.com, delivers 24-hour customer assistance to potential visitors. Through the chatbot, users around the world are able to connect with a live agent who sits in our office and even provides quotations and bookings,” he added.