Nowadays, even if the Covid-19 pandemic has not left a significant impact, the market of the tourism industry has relentlessly become competitive. At the same time, the interests of tourists have also continuously changed rapidly in industry 4.0. Facing such unpredictable challenges, firms must constantly have different innovations to bring new and other values to the tourism industry. With the ability to create appropriate new values, Artificial Intelligence (AI) can force firms to redesign products and services, and at the same time to restructure the entire innovation method. However, AI may also appear as a preferred option when the advantages of conventional innovation methods are challenging to realize. This paper aims to explore how AI will help the innovation of tourism and hospitality enterprises create new values that match new and safe experiences for customers during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.
Tourism is an important source of foreign currency revenue, accounting for a significant proportion of Vietnam's GDP. There will be the participation of many stakeholders in the tourism industry, such as hotels, restaurants, event organizers, amusement parks, shopping malls, souvenir shops, small local leisure & service establishments for tourists, airports, rental company cars, travel agencies, and tourist information centers, museums and art galleries, etc. This means that tourism has many other related industries, including agriculture, food, beverage, real estate, construction, transportation, creative sectors, and other services.
Although, tourists are often the ones who actively participate in their own
experiences when choosing a types of tourism with a particular tourist destination. But,
tourists often feel anxious about the unknown when traveling to unfamiliar destinations
[
Now that the COVID-19 pandemic has spread around the world, the fear factor
affecting human psychology will continue. As a result, service industries that depend on
direct human interaction have been greatly affected. Many experts believe that it will
take nearly 18-30 months to stimulate demand again of the restaurant, hotel, airlines,
etc. Domestic tourism may return slowly due to the willingness to spend of the tourists.
Even tourism for international visitors needs a more detailed plan and depends on the
immigration policy of each country. Thus, with tourist destinations, Vietnam is also
one of the tourist destinations that are affected, affecting Vietnam's GDP [
Because of health concerns and risks, tourists will also raise skepticism about the
safety of services in their minds. Therefore, the tourism industry will have to find
business innovations to be able to survive. Solving this problem requires a lot of digital
transformation of services in the tourism industry. Then, the entire tourism industry
ecosystem can create trust and safety in the minds of tourists. This strategy will make
the entire ecosystem of smart tourism sustainable and innovative [
Nowadays, the concept of innovation is not only for specific products but also for
firms that provide services to customers, such as restaurant or hotel management in the
tourism industry [
In addition, research on innovation across various industries has shown that being
user-centric to create products/services that delight customers are the right choice.
Different methods of product innovation or business process innovation, or combine them
to bring customers the new value created by the enterprise's comprehensive innovation
process. Then, the perception of the value that customers feel satisfied with will guide
the company's innovation [
Several countries are prioritizing innovations with emerging technologies such as
Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and Blockchain, and these are
The relationship between innovation and value creation by artificial intelligence: The case of
the tourism industry in the Covid-19 pandemic 85
becoming areas of focus in both research and development of business [
In fact, technology can free workers from some unsafe tasks during the Covid-19 pandemic while also helping them improve services and assist in creating a sense of security for tourists. We can see many new applications & devices being used in practice in many parts of the world, such as online check-in kiosks, automatic control gates with Biometric Card Readers/passports, fully automated hotels, or self-driving cars are being announced by manufacturers to become ubiquitous on the streets in the next few years. In Vietnam, many innovative applications or devices are being used; even self-driving has the first version introduced by a Vietnamese company designed and manufactured.
However, some studies show that AI technology is only being developed in a few regions of the world. This creates an "AI divide," reinforcing inequalities in social, economic, and cultural sectors. Meanwhile, the participants in the tourism industry are globally connected because the number of international visitors brought to the locality is creating a tourism ecosystem with a significant source of revenue. Many countries support the development of AI in the field of smart tourism. Its direction for Vietnamese businesses also needs innovative thinking (with new methods) to connect. It is also something that needs to be done quickly.
The growth of Information Communication Technology (ICT) such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, mobile devices, extensive data mining, and social media Function Mobile Phone for Web, Multimedia, eMail, Apps Cloud for Iaas, PaaS, SaaS, IoTaaS, AIaaS Online Social engage platform Collect online data for exchange and process Augmeted Reality/Virtual Reality Robotic for human interaction assistance Internet of Thing Open distributed ledger technology Transferring image onto a 3D surface Internet, IoT security 5G next generation transmitting technology
Smart tourism scenario Smart Tourism App, Location base App, Target Marketing Device Smart Tourism cloud infrastructure services for XaaS Smart Tourism social media for smart destination Big Data for Smart Tourism analytic, prediction AR/VR for smart destination promotion Robotic for helpdesk, customer service in destination Location based service for tourism, transportation Smart contract for tourism, food quality record tracking Cognitive engagement, process autimation, insights Destination 3D landsacpe demonstration, Customize souvenir product Provide all tourism big data security such as GDPR compliance Smart Tourism data transmitting backbone Technology Mobile Device/Wearable Cloud Social Media Big Data AR/VR Robotic IoT Block Chain 3D Printer Cyber Security 5G/NBIoT, Wifi Artificial Intelligent
AI/ML provide analytics algorithm
makes software and hardware related to computing, storage, and communication
become ubiquitous; it is a key component of innovations in the field of smart tourism
[
The local culture and language differences will not be a barrier to tourism but an
attraction for exploration. So during travel, technology will help tourists with the
unknown with the local cultural environment, along with language exchange
applications that will reduce anxiety and fear. Furthermore, technology will allow
customers to receive the best services [
In the COVID-19 period and beyond, automation technology and immense AI
capabilities have enabled Human-Machine Interoperable Devices (HMIs) to deliver
differentiated experiences that help tourism establishments create sustainable value in the
tourism industry. HMIs influences the tourism industry by providing a service where
travelers have to serve themselves more with the help of HMIs to co-create a safe,
hygienic service experience. In addition, tourists use HMIs from the point of view of
accepting technology and services to enhance the value of quality and reliable
information-sharing mechanisms [
There has been a lot of research on tourism initiatives to enhance the richness of the
user experience for applications serving the tourism industry. In which, Virtual Reality
(VR) has a leading role among AI-related technologies. VR is most likely used as a
virtual imaging tool to create human travel experiences during and even after the
pandemic [
The tourism can apply AI in location-based interactive services and the customization ability of Robotic and Chatbot to provide information about tourist attractions and promoting tourist attractions by analyzing GPS and shopping data. In addition, providing instant language translation to assist tourists in obtaining tourist information or image recognition can enhance the rich content information of a tourist destination. This shows that AI creates new value to enhance the on-site experience of tourists through the rich & elevant information development of inquiry personalization 12].
AI can enhance the travel experience by automatically marking photos with location
information and automatically creating photo books. In addition, travelers can upload
and share photos to group social networks to promote travel experiences with family
and friends. Therefore, AI has created value, as excursionists can share their travel
The relationship between innovation and value creation by artificial intelligence: The case of
the tourism industry in the Covid-19 pandemic 87
experiences to help other tourists get more information while making their decisions.
Besides, AI can also recall memories, enhance tourists' travel experiences, and help
them build their image and status on social networks [
Moreover, firms using AI can better understand their customers' financial
capabilities and requirements from the point of view. From there, they can design products,
services, and experiences that are more tailored to the needs of their customers. At the
same time, thanks to the help of technology, firms will significantly reduce overall
operating costs. Thus, it will help firms provide services at a more reasonable price,
translate into profits, and transfer as part of the cost reduction to customers [
Vietnam has been taking health measures for people, such as vaccination and requiring
masks in public spaces. And as soon as hotels reopen, they must also implement
hygiene, health, and safety procedures to keep guests and staff safe. Technologies that
use AI by automating processes and services will serve as a potential platform for users
to increase the rate of information application in decision-making in real-time and in
current contexts. Smart tourism has been presented as a clear concept, not just relying
on capturing massive data. But to be able to inform business innovation also needs to
store, process, combine, analyze and use “big data” intelligently [
Expectations for AI adoption to impact the services provided and supported business
processes are substantial in service industries. AI applications impact information
processing and operations management, research and development, finance and
accounting, supply chain management, strategy, sales, marketing, and customer
service. They also always expect AI to contribute to innovative business models with
efficient user-centric services [
In addition, innovation will provide new initiatives and innovative changes in
products and services in the tourism industry. However, these innovations must also
make it possible to promote tourism with something new. At the same time, intelligent
technologies also attract and engage tourists in creating tourism experiences as a
cocreating component of that experience value [
However, it is acceptable to use AI devices to provide functional services, and the
willingness of tourists to use AI devices to provide hospitality services is lower than
that of airline services [
From the above points of view, AI forces firms to restructure and innovate their businesses towards creating value using AI and, most recently, HMI devices in the tourism industry. At the same time, they consider the use of AI as a priority option when turning AI into solutions and tourism initiatives to contribute to creating innovations for the smart tourism sector. Their relationship has implications for business innovation that will bring innovative tourism products, services, and processes to customer-centric business functions that serve the people and worldwide after the Covid-19 pandemic. 5
Although recovering the economy during the Covid-19 period and restoring the tourism industry is a challenge. Innovative solutions for sectors of the tourism industry to attract a new influx of tourists. Based on this research, we believe that adapting to new conditions during and after the Covid-19 pandemic is necessary for innovation. In which, AI can create new values that enhance a safe customer experience and is worth the move for firms in the travel industry. Furthermore, there are reasons to believe that the innovative approach with AI is radically different from the human-skill-intensive innovation approach many firms have adopted in the past.
The development of the tourism industry will rapidly utilize new initiatives that are also important for the future of this industry because the technology and intelligence of AI will make business more accessible by shortening the time of work & human resources. However, we also need to pay attention to human labor needs in the tourism industry, a labor-intensive industry, by creating more favorable conditions for employees to work in this industry. In addition, AI also has challenges as many other researchers have pointed out that need to be considered, which are: Computing Power, Trust Deficit, Limited Knowledge, Human-level, Data Privacy and Security, The Bias Problem, Data Scarcity, etc.
In general, AI can appear as a preferred option. This is because it has a positive role in situations where the advantages of conventional digital innovation methods are difficult to realize value creation with a new experience for customers. Incorporating AI into applications & innovation tools of firms seeking innovation is also a smart choice in the tourism industry during the Covid-19 pandemic (if all obstacles of AI for users & related sectors of the tourism industry are solved). Thus, it can be seen that the application of AI will help tourists to use a lot of information in the context of tourism, and at the same time, creating value by AI will help tourists get more personalized value, bringing trust & usefulness in the time of Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.