How Technology can be leveraged to enhance the experience of a Tourist

Authored by Manjunath Gowda, CEO WildTrails.

We live in a world powered and controlled by technological innovation and advancement. With Artificial Intelligence and IOT taking over our lives, we have become so dependent on technology that we cannot imagine living today without making use of it, Technology has not only made us advanced but also has made our life easier. In the last few years because of the rise in technology there are people, who are open to travelling for leisure too often and specially the concept of travelling solo has picked up paced because now we have so many websites, apps and online bookings in Hotels that we have the liberty to plan our trip sitting in our comfortable homes with just a few clicks. A decade back we had to stand in queue to book our tickets but now we can book it all online on our handset. There is so much advancement in technology that the robots are welcoming and serving foods in restaurants. We all love travelling and want to go to different places and meet new people and be a tourist in beautiful places. But when you are a tourist and in a new place many things can go wrong, but we can use technology to enhance and make our experience truly wonderful.

Below are few points as to how technology can be used to enhance the travelling experience of a tourist.

Safety

When we are in a new place be it anybody, everyone is worried about their safety and well being. Technology has played an important role here because now we have so many apps like SOS, Be safe and others that give us confidence that we are safe and tourists can enjoy their holiday without worrying about their safety.

Finding Route

It’s because of the technological advancement that today we can just pack our bags and set out for a trip because we have Google maps, Bing maps and map quest to help us navigate our routes in unknown land.

Hassle free adventure & safaris

Adventure has become a cakewalk because of the advancement of technology.  Today we can plan our wildlife safaris and adventures on our mobile phones. It’s because of technology like AI, Data Mining and analytics we were able to create platform like WildTrails a sighting platform that helps people plan and make their  wildlife trip more adventurous and fun. It helps you to plan your Wildlife travel right from hotel booking to your wildlife safari to picking the right naturalist to picking the right place to right season which used to take months to plan one and now because of technology we are able to reshape the Stone Age wildlife tourism industry with a solution that uses data analytics, modern technologies, and AI/machine learning to deliver a personalized delightful experience for Wildlife Travelers and all in less than a couple of hours. Today technology plays a very important role in advancement of all sectors and verticals, wildlife and tourism being one of them.

Personalization of itinerary

Due to machine learning & AI, mobile knows what kind of a person you are, your likes and dislikes and it can design an itinerary which suits you best and easily. It’s not very far that it can even design an itinerary based on your bank balance. We infect use a lot of AI technologies to understand whether you are a big cats person or whether you are a bird person or reptiles/snakes person or an ocean wildlife person and we do suggest the right parks for you and we are still scraping the surface and the possibilities are unlimited. Also, it’s not far where mobile can understand your mood and suggest the right trip for you based on moon – may be romantic, may be heartbroken solo trips etc. (music industry already uses these technologies to play the right kind of music). Someday we can as well make use of these moods and suggest the right kind of parks and right kind of treks.

Flights and Hotel booking

Today we can book flights and hotels online from anywhere which reduces the cost for the travellers. You can book trip tickets online as it reduces time, as you can book your tickets according to your convenience because you don’t have to worry about standing in line and wasting your valuable time. Hotel bookings help you to relax so that you don’t have to worry about your stay when you arrive at your holiday destination.

Nearby attractions and services

Wherever you are, there are apps and technologies which can suggest all nearby attractions, distance, kind of attractions and a score of user reviews which helps you decide whether you will like it or not. Not just nearby attractions but even nearby services be it a car repair or a nearby café or a nearby puncture shop all at the click of a button. If you feel we are in places where there is no network, no issues, just download of these data in the comfort of your home and Wifi and wow, it works even in remote no-network places, that’s the beauty of technology. We have adopted many of these technologies in WildTrails app which shows all nearby attractions and services in a given park.

Weather and local cultures & cuisines

Of Course this is already being used to show weather both current and predicted so that you can pack properly for your upcoming trip and also shows local culture of where you are going including cuisines so that you can even plan your food as well as local culture imbibing which gives you the ultimate experience of any given place. We in WildTrails app do mention all local cultures and culture trips which makes wildlifers get immersed into the local culture and all these are possible for technology.

About the Author

A serial entrepreneur, Manjunath Gowda buillt his first company S7 Software that was acquired by Blue Coat Systems, an SFO based Security company and has now co-founded WildTrails (Sept 2016). His startup experiences include setting up of Bristol India, a US-based startup which got acquired by HP, followed by his first entrepreneurial venture in the space of cross-platform widgets. He is an Avid blogger, Wildlife Enthusiast and has most recently deveoped an interest in Wildlife photography.