Have personalized and instant information about Camprodon (Ripollès). This is what Guest Assistant offers, a tourist guide that uses Artificial Intelligence with the aim of "improving the experience" of the visitor.
Two companies have designed it -New Ideas
The idea is to replicate it in other places starting in the summer. Through WhatsApp, the user writes the questions and the guide responds in the language that has been previously chosen. The range is very wide: gastronomic proposals, cultural heritage or telephone numbers of interest, among others.
For city councils, it also provides information on the profile of visitors and their preferences.
This tourist guide powered by AI technology wants to be the solution for those visitors who cannot find the information they need, among other things, because the tourist office is closed at that time.
"There are many websites with information, but it is not organized intelligently; this guide is an engine capable of searching from different sites for the information you need and in the language you have requested," explains Joan Corbella (New Ideas
What the visitor must do is capture the QR code with their mobile phone, fill in some information such as place of origin and telephone number and then the WhatsApp channel will open in the form of a chat with the message 'Welcome to the Camprodon Turisme service '.
"It answers everything that may come to the visitor's mind, from tourist, historical or heritage information, and the system answers in a friendly way," details Corbella.
The promoters emphasize that it is also a promotional tool for the local economy to publicize restaurants, shops and all local commerce.
The information appears in a random and different order in each investigation to give the same opportunities to everyone.
"On the Internet we first find who pays the most and therefore we always find interesting information; our engine does not behave in this way, but rather randomly presents you with everyone who actively participates in the villa," he details. From his point of view, this trend is what must be promoted to guarantee the viability of smaller businesses compared to large corporations.
This tool also allows us to collect the interests, motivations and different profiles of the visitor and adapt the offer based on the responses. This is a key point, according to the mayor of Camprodon, Xavier Guitart: "What is most difficult is having the people who visit us return, the concerns, what we are doing wrong and what needs to be strengthened." For the mayor, with a tourism office you go where you can, since personal and economic resources are limited.
For Jordi Corbella, "it is a very great future opportunity in growth and savings to direct the little money we have for tourism promotion and be more efficient." The other ideologist of the project, Jordi Puig, explains that, facing the summer, they plan to replicate this tool in other parts of Catalonia and "continue growing." The user should not assume any cost because it is the councils that assume it.
Isabel is a tourist from Barcelona who has come to Camprodon to spend the day. She explains that a neighbor in the town has recommended a modernist house that has just been renovated. She doesn't have too much time and she wanted to pay a quick visit. "I have no idea what we're going to see," she admits.
After trying the AI tourist guide you discover exactly where it is and also information about what you will be able to see. "At least it's easy to use; I guess if you ask him more complicated questions, you end up thinking he's a robot, but he took us to the site," she adds.
Who also sees it as a "useful" tool is Sandra, from Barcelona. "It's good because you don't need to go to the office; if you have any questions or want to know store hours or places of interest, it's good to be able to consult them," she says.
