Tourism is not the same thing as “travel,” but internet of things use cases will be found in both. Think of travel as “getting from one place to another,” while tourism is “travel to a destination for fun or work.” You may think of travel as a component of tourism, or tourism as a subset of reasons to travel.
Either way, the ecosystem involves airlines, ground transport, hotels and accommodation, restaurants, food and beverage, attractions, entertainment and shopping. IoT applications can improve traveler or tourist experience, create more sustainable and pleasurable tourism and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of all support infrastructures and services underpinning travel and tourism.
About 86 percent of airline industry information technology professionals believed the internet of things will provide benefits “within three years,” a 2015 survey conducted by SITA suggested. That arguably proved true if one considers a consumer smartphone, tablet or smart watch an IoT device. Personalization of the passenger experience was an early initiative.
Flight status updates are one example of the passenger use case, while check-in personnel, baggage handlers and ramp staff provide examples of employee use cases.
By the time of the 2019 survey, artificial intelligence had become a stated area of concern. The 2020 report on passenger use of airline travel technology showed widespread use of personal devices for booking, checkin and dwell time functions. Again, some might quibble about whether tablets and smartphones--though connected devices--represent “IoT” use cases.
Many would argue use of IoT is part of the larger digital transformation of airline travel, including smart luggage and use of beacons to support travelers. Many of us would argue the coming important IoT innovations will come from use of sensors (not consumer devices) applied to the other passenger operations sides of the business, such as analytics on food and beverage consumption, seat pitch, seat belt condition (on or off), seat wear and tear, restroom monitoring and other elements of the actual in-flight experience.
Of more immediate and obvious value are the use of sensors to detect mechanical issues before they happen. Equipment monitoring has been found to reduce delays by about 20 percent, for example.
Expected use cases include in-room tablets that enable guests to personalize and adjust room temperature, control TV, elevators, and heaters, turn lighting on and off, schedule wake up calls.
Electronic key cards on guest smartphones, allowing them to check-in without anyone’s assistance, as well as smart locks also are expected use cases.
Real-time information already is a use case, but IoT applications will help travellers change flights and make connecting flights. Directions to gates at the airport, instructions on how to board a flight and information security checks will be IoT-enabled.
In flight, sensors might be embedded in the seats inside the aircraft that can measure the anxiety level, heart rate, body temperature, hydration level of travellers, allowing the cabin staff to react to passenger needs.
IoT will streamline the day-to-day operations of airports in areas such as baggage handling and personalization.
IoT will support automation of many crucial business functions of travel and hotel businesses, including everything connected with supply chains and back-end support operations, such as maintenance.
Tourist experience, probably based on apps available on their smartphones, also are likely to become common.
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