Because artificial intelligence is no longer a thing of the future, but is almost an integral part of everyday life and is also increasingly finding its way into tourism, the association based in Bad Saarow has taken on the new challenges and, at the same time, exciting opportunities.
How does it all work?
The digital Lakeland Scout is based on Chatbase technology. It is fed with comprehensive and touristically relevant data (such as restaurants, accommodations, leisure and cultural facilities, and tour recommendations) from a Brandenburg-wide tourism database, which the tourism team collects, verifies, and updates daily. It also pulls information directly from the website ( www.seenland-oderspree.de ). To ensure the content is optimally tailored to the travel region, a prompt is used. This is a customized set of instructions for the artificial intelligence. It defines, among other things, the tone of voice, how questions should be answered, any special requirements that need to be considered, and which technical rules should be followed – for example, to avoid broken pages or incorrect information. This allows the digital Lakeland Scout to answer questions about destinations, events, cycling, hiking, or canoeing tours, as well as accommodations and leisure activities. As with all new tools, the AI chatbot isn't perfect yet – but it improves with every use and every question asked.
Why are we doing this?
We want to keep up with the times, make sensible use of new technologies, and offer our guests an additional service. The AI chatbot is intended not only to answer practical questions, but also to provide playful inspiration and perhaps even be a bit of fun. Last but not least, it can support or relieve the burden on the nearly 20 tourist information centers in the travel region. The digital Lakeland Scout is intended as a permanent addition and is intended to both inform and inspire. At the same time, it provides tourism professionals with valuable insights: By analyzing the questions asked, we can better understand what guests are truly interested in. We can then respond by preparing content more specifically or setting new thematic priorities.