The Chairman of the National Artificial Intelligence Task Force, Chris Reckord, outlined that the tourism sector is facing discoverability challenges because of poor utilisation of artificial intelligence (AI).

During his presentation on the second day of the 3rd Global Tourism Resilience Conference, Reckford stated that small vendors who attract tourists with their various delicacies are the backbone of the tourism industry, as these experiences are a core memory for our visitors.

“When I have discussions with friends who visit Jamaica by asking them how their visit was, they say, ‘I remember that place that you brought me to, the jerk chicken man.’ They remember going on the road the little river, the little experience, the smell of the chicken, the traffic passing by and the discussions. That’s what these multimillionaires who travel globally remember.”

However, despite these great experiences, Reckord highlighted that the sector has a problem with discoverability because it’s a challenge for tourists to locate these exquisite places. “We have a problem with discoverability. This is the ability to find these little outings, whether it’s a little riverboat, beach, a vendor who sells chicken, fish, shrimp, or the best oxtail.”

Additionally, he highlighted that a lot of these vendors or small businesses have no online presence to attract more tourists.

“They don’t know how to come up with a brand. They generally use a nickname, and so one of the situations is that if they are in the tourism area, tourists usually rely on third-party platforms, which may provide outdated or incomplete information,” Reckord shared. “There is also inconsistent business information, as we don’t know the opening hours for these businesses or where to find information on them. Also, the lack of accurate information reduces visitor engagement and has a negative economic impact on local attractions.”

Recommendations to address discoverability challenges in the tourism sector

Reckord stated that the National Artificial Intelligence Task Force has made a lot of recommendations in an effort to curtail this issue so that these businesses can contribute to the economic development of the sector.

“Leveraging the AI tools and technology will give the power to that small man to leverage their access. Also, someone has to help these business owners so that it’s easy for tourists to find their location, as the websites with attractions are all over the place.

“There needs to be one central area with information about these locations along with real-time updates on business hours, closures, and whether the business moved to another area. This would be more convenient for tourists to access information easily and quickly,” he continued.

He further outlined that AI is super powerful because of the assistance it provides. “AI technologies and tools can deliver personalised assistance about attractions, directions, and other inquiries via chatbot,” he said.

As a result of the capabilities of AI, Reckord urged other tourism partners to collaborate to capitalise on this technology and safeguard the tourism sector.

“By connecting the pieces that already exist with the Jamaica Vacations Limited (JamVac), the Ministry of Tourism, and the Tourism Enhancement Fund, we can figure out how to create a proper discoverability platform and personalisation experience, which will directly create some positive economic impact for Jamaica with the use of AI and unlock its tourism potential,” he said.