In mid-2019, Vinpearl became the first hotel/resort complex in Vietnam using AI-based face recognition technology.

The technology allows travelers to fulfill check-in procedures within several seconds. It can recognize guests going in and out, help open rooms, do shopping, and make payments. In general, it helps free travelers and hoteliers from printed documents and cards.

A study by Microsoft found that digital transformation will help businesses increase their productivity. In 2017, the influences of digital transformation to productivity growth was 15 percent, while the figure is expected to rise to 21 percent by 2020.

Tran Viet Hung, CEO of GotIt headquartered in Silicon Valley, believes there will be more AI applications in hospitality for both service providers and terminal consumers.

One example of AI application is the capability of predicting numbers of guests and personal tastes.

With this information collected from clients, service providers can discover more habits and tastes of clients, and design new services which fit all groups of clients.

Le Dac Thinh Dong, chair of So Sanh Viet Nam JSC, which runs websosanh.vn, commented that once technologies, including AI, are applied they will help make society more civilized and businesses operate more professionally.

Singapore, for instance, doesn’t use stamps when travelers exit the country because it is now using AI to recognize fingerprint and images, which helps shorten the time for procedures.

AI apps will also make payments safer and easier.

Ta Quang Thai, a co-founder of Rada, a startup, said that utilizing AI is inevitable, sooner or later, in Vietnam.

AI was first mentioned 30 years ago. However, only in modern times when IT systems became strong enough and the data large enough could AI be applied widely in many different fields and access apps that terminal users can see. These include apps that recognize faces, images, writing, and voices, and provide biometric authentication and traffic regulations.

AI and Big Data have become more common in the hospitality industry because the technology can help improve travelers’ personal experiences.

Experts point out that the application of AI will depend on the vision of businesses’ leaders.

“In digital transformation, the problem is not financial capability, but in leadership and the capability to choose suitable solutions,” Dong said.

RELATED NEWS

HCM City to use AI to build smart city

Contest on AI, IoT launched in HCM City

Mai Lan