Are Easter and technology polar opposites? Not at all, technology has become one of the main allies of religious tourism, with proposals ranging from mobile applications and chatbots, to augmented reality.
Because tourism in Colombia, although it has been hit hard by the Covid-19, sees 2023 with optimism thanks to a growth, in the number of visitors, of 65%, in January of this year. And Easter is one of the main events.
Suffice it to remember that precisely in January more than 454.000 foreign visitors arrived in the country. This good symptom is also a warning sign to provide a good user experience and this is a specialty of technology. An initiative that should range from facilitating the reservation process to the development of mobile applications.
As an example, it is enough to remember that the 79% of tourists, in Colombia, considers mobile applications as fundamental instruments of their trip, there are even those specialized in religious themes such as the Holy Bible or the Stations of the Cross available in the mobile stores of Android y Apple.
But beyond religious themes, Easter tourists also have the same needs as secular tourists with a demand for applications in fields so varied such as information on places of interest, car rental, restaurants, etc.
And beyond these programs, there is also a technological demand in infrastructure issues such as connectivity in hotels, public Wi-Fi network offers, chatbots to answer customer questions, web pages optimized to be viewed from cell phones, etc. But this is just a sample of the current technologies in the tourism sector, an industry that is changing thanks to new trends that are on the horizon, starting with technologies such as:
Voice searches
Why write if we can talk? Because spoken language is one of the most efficient forms of communication, this trend has reached the Internet. To the point that, according to Google, this type of search it is used by 27% of the population.
In addition, among the most frequent uses of this technology, the same one that supports the smart speakers of manufacturers such as Apple, Amazon and Google, among others, is the consultation of places of interest.
Tourism and the Internet of Things (IoT)
Years ago, the IoT ceased to be a novelty, but its use has given rise to new forms of entertainment and service models. In the case of hotel chains, smart devices allow users to take control of their environment and offer experiences Custom.
For example, thanks to this technology travelers can know where their bags are at all times, they can even receive alerts on their phones with historical information on the sites they are visiting or find out which places have parking spaces available for your vehicle.
Now imagine receiving information about the sites visited through animations that you can see through your mobile phone. We are talking about another trend and it is augmented reality.
Augmented reality and other trends
Augmented reality is revolutionary and its impact on The tourism it's just beginning to feel. Through this technology it is possible to see cities in a different way, orient yourself, find vital information, discover places of interest, etc.
Finally, we will talk about other trends that have been and are still in fashion, such as the use of Analytics and Artificial Intelligence to offer personalized packages to each client, blockchain to secure information and transactions and, of course, contactless payment methods, a trend that the pandemic left us and that will continue to grow.
