Trends in India's travel tech business in 2017

Ever thought a travel bot would book your flight ticket for you? The travel tech market has come leaps and bounds over the last few years alone! From virtual reality tours and drone photography to cloud passports and artificial intelligence (AI) travel bots, the way we travel is about to change completely. India aims to lead the charts of such technological development in the travel market space, thanks to these upcoming trends in 2017:

Your own intelligent travel assistant Did you know? You can book flights, make hotel reservations, discover the best places to travel and even track the status of your flight or train, without any hassles, all without a travel agent! Thanks to artificial intelligence it has become possible to easily personalise a user's destination discovery and make purchases with tailor made, contextual insights. One of the very prominent trends that emerged in 2016 and will surely be taken to the next level in 2017 is that of travel chat bots. Helping you plan your travel seamlessly just as a human would, chat bots make sure all your travel queries are answered.

Internet of Things (IoT) and cognitive technology to make travel smoother  Thanks to IoT, flight travellers will now get to witness an all new air and ground travel experience. Sensors and other connected devices, combined with intelligent analytics, are allowing airports and airlines to make rapid advancements toward providing a better passenger experience. Beacons will play an important role in transmitting relevant, targeted information or broadcasting useful information to smartphones in their proximity. On the business side, hotels can benefit from IoT to keep tabs on the facilities put in use by guests. An IoT-enabled power socket can report usage to the front desk if consumption exceeds the preset limit.

Revolutionising travel experiences through Augmented Reality (AR)  Integrating AR technology in travel is sure to make the entire process of planning a journey much more seamless, interactive and simple. This means booking a hotel, accessing information while at the destination, navigating around the destination, locating dining and entertainment options can all be done simply through an app on your mobile device.

Travel the world using Virtual Reality (VR) Although initially confined to gaming, VR can do wonders for travel enthusiasts as well. Travelling, particularly to exotic locales can be quite expensive, but with the introduction of VR travel apps, people can get to see and know everything about a resort, museum, garden, etc. well before they even get there. Obtaining such information will help travellers take much better decisions, and hence ensure they save on both time and money.

Automation will dominate everything Hotels can adopt automation to improve their operations and revolutionise guest experience. Guests no longer need to wait in line at the front desk to check in or out of a hotel. Through automation, they can use their smartphones or an on-site kiosk and save time. There are apps, for instance, that have already automated the web check-in process with just a few simple clicks. This helps users save considerably on time and effort.

Aloke Bajpai is co-founder and chief executive of online travel search engine ixigo.com.