New York City’s official destination marketing organization NYC & Company has teamed up with Chute to pilot the launch of bot platform Destination Concierge.
The platform allows marketers to engage with travelers through mobile messenger apps providing useful and up to date content.
Once a traveler communicates with Destination Concierge, marketing teams can then follow up with customer specific news, content updates and promotions.
"Our mission is to maximize travel and tourism opportunities throughout the five boroughs by providing resources for visitors to discover everything they need to know about what to do and see in NYC," said NYC & Company president and CEO Fred Dixon. "However, today’s travelers are no longer just going to one resource or turning to visitor guides alone to research and plan. With so many outlets, it’s vital for destinations to be at the ready and reach travelers wherever they are."
It aims to reach over a billion users through Facebook Messenger.
The chat bot will learn and evolve its ability to respond with relevant content, through human analysis to hone the service beyond the beta testing period.
"At Chute, our goal is to help travel brands tell better stories – whether that’s through using the earned content being shared about them by visitors during or after a trip or reaching potential travelers when they’re researching and planning," said Ranvir Gujral, Chute’s CEO.
Gujral says the average wait time for brands to reply to a Facebook message is an ‘unacceptable’ 10 hours.
