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TourReview has launched two new features for online review management: Translation and Geolocation
In the world of tourism, the variety of languages and geolocations are crucial factors that drive the industry. TourReview ensures that these factors do not become an obstacle to effective online reputation management for tour operators. TourReview launches two new features for effective online reputation management for tour operators. The TourReview software allows instant translation of reviews extracted directly from customers or OTAs. The Review Master now features a geolocation analysis to see where the reviews are located, and how many reviews each country has, as well as being able to see immediately whether these reviews have been positive or negative. TourReview, the experts in online review management, have launched new features within their software that solve a niche problem for tour operators, the centralization and collection of verified reviews. Thus, TourReview proposes its two products to more efficiently achieve a positive online reputation. Now, when receiving a review and viewing it from the central panel of OTA reviews within the Review Master, a translation from any language to the browser settings can be displayed with just one click. This feature extends to the Review Collector, which collects the online reviews from the operator’s customers. On the other hand, TourReview offers a geolocation analysis service. This shows a map-like graphic that illustrates the location of the company's products (tours, experiences or activities) and allows you to observe the number of reviews for each location along with the satisfaction breakdown. This is especially useful for identifying the products and destinations with the most feedback, the best rated, highest attendance and therefore, the best sellers. “It is very useful for a tour operator to understand which products and destinations are having the highest satisfaction, and at the same time it is extremely important to know which of them should pay more attention to improve the score of the reviews,” explains Juana Muro, COO of TourReview, ”this way companies can offer better experiences to their travelers, providing quality services, improving their online reputation, and therefore increasing their sales.
Ctrip, Baidu offer translation for Chinese tourists
The language barrier discourages Chinese from travelling independently, Ctrip claims Ctrip has teamed up with Baidu, the Chinese search engine, to provide a new translation service for Chinese tourists abroad. Using Baidu's "optical character recognition" (OCR) technology, tourists can translate English content into Chinese by taking a photograph of the text via the Ctrip app. The service is said to be more accurate than inputting characters manually. According to a report by the China Tourism Academy and Ctrip, more than 62 million mainland Chinese travelled abroad in the first half of 2017, up 5% year-on-year. More than half (58%) of these were independent travellers, while 42% were on group tours. The language barrier is one of the main reasons that tourists choose group tours, according to Ctrip.
Shanghai to roll out Easy Go app for foreign travellers
Shanghai is getting ready to implement Easy Go, a digital application that seeks to improve the travel experience for foreign travellers in China. Powered by Alipay, this English-language platform offers dedicated sections for services, benefits, guides, travel tips, and more. Easily accessible from the homepage, this section includes 30 mini programmes grouped into four categories: food, transport, sightseeing, and shopping. Whether it's placing a food delivery order, browsing dining recommendations, checking transit schedules, hailing a taxi, unlocking a shared bike, booking tickets, storing luggage or locating tax-refund counters, each tool is neatly grouped by function for intuitive access. Plus, Easy Go comes with a Tap for Tax Refund feature tied into Shanghai's citywide refund map, giving tourists a much smoother tax refund experience. What to expect from Easy Go In collaboration with local businesses, Easy Go also offers exclusive discount packages under its Shanghai Coupon Pack. The pack offers a variety of deals and coupons covering cultural experiences, tourist attractions, commercial venues, sports events, and exhibitions. Supported by the International Services Shanghai website, there is a section in the app that provides lifestyle updates, special recommendations and highlights of the latest happenings in the city. Easy Go’s travel tips come in the form of short videos produced by official media outlets and popular international influencers, spotlighting the best of Shanghai and China. Visitors can explore top-rated food spots, must-see attractions and shopping destinations through engaging, curated content. While English is the default language, Easy Go also supports real-time translation in several other languages, making it accessible to a broader range of international users. Easy Go is expected to play a key role in supporting the upcoming 2025 Shanghai Summer International Consumption Season, which will kick off in early July and run until mid-October.
89% of Business Travellers Trust AI to Help Book Trips: booking.com
Representative Image A recent survey by the travel experts at Booking.com for Business has revealed how business travellers feel about using AI when booking their trips. The study reveals the most trusted features, as well as the features that garner the most interest. Unsurprisingly, the study found that younger generations (18–45 years old) exhibit a higher overall interest in tech features compared to their older counterparts (46 years old and above). Notably, younger professionals show a heightened interest in health and wellness monitoring apps compared to their older counterparts, reiterating the findings of Deliotte’s insights into travel trends. AI Features % of travellers with very high trust in the feature % of travellers with moderate trust in the feature % of travellers with trust in the feature Ultra-personalised travel recommendations 57% 32% 89% Real-time language translation services 65% 23% 88% Automated expense tracking and reporting 59% 29% 88% Meeting and event coordination 57% 30% 87% Travel itinerary planning and optimization 52% 31% 83% Travel risk assessment and mitigation tools 53% 30% 83% Health and wellness monitoring app 56% 29% 78% Enhanced cyber protection 53% 26% 78% Trust is highest (89%) in AI systems that provide ultra-personalized travel recommendations. By learning travellers’ likes and dislikes through previous bookings and searches, tailored suggestions enhance the overall travel experience, earning the confidence of business travellers. Real-time language translation services and automated expense tracking and reporting are tied in second place as the second most trusted AI feature. Real-time language translation services allow travellers to break down language barriers, contributing to smoother interactions online. Automated expense tracking is especially useful for business travellers, as budgets are automatically categorized into areas such as food, travel, and accommodation. The study also revealed the AI features that harbor the most interest. AI Features % of Travelers That Are Interested in the AI Feature Automated expense tracking and reporting 47% Meeting and event coordination 45% Travel itinerary planning and optimization 45% Health and wellness monitoring app 42% Enhanced cyber protection 35% Ultra-personalised travel recommendations 31% Travel risk assessment and mitigation tools 30% Real-time language translation services 28% Automated expense tracking and reporting apps harbor the most interest from business travellers, with 47% wanting to know more about applications that streamline financial management during trips. Automated expense tracking and reporting apps are considered essential for a hassle-free experience. The desire for optimized travel experiences is evident, with 45% of professionals seeking AI-driven solutions to plan and execute their itineraries efficiently. These apps can be especially useful to travellers visiting places they have not visited. AI's role in facilitating meeting and event coordination is gaining prominence, with 45% of business travellers showing interest. Business travellers value technologies that simplify the organization of professional gatherings.
ITE Hong Kong set to become a mega event for both buyers and suppliers
ITE Hong Kong 2025 stands to become one of the year’s biggest events for the global travel sector, drawing in multitudes of both suppliers and buyers over a four-day period. Scheduled to run from 12th to 15th June, ITE Hong Kong will be staged at Halls 1A to 1E of the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). The first two days of the event are dedicated to trade participants, while the latter half is open to the public. Incorporating the 39th ITE Leisure and 20th ITE MICE, ITE Hong Kong also marks its 40th year in 2025 with its fifth live run since the pandemic. What’s on in Hong Kong? Hong Kong SAR Chief Executive John KC Lee will be welcoming participants with a special message on the first day of the event. Likewise, HKSAR secretary for culture, sports, and tourism Rosanna Law Shuk Pui will officiate at the opening ceremony on 12th June at the ITE Grand Stage. Prior to the official opening, members of the media were invited to the press conference held on Tuesday, 3rd June, and will also be in attendance at the exhibition preview on Wednesday, 11th June. From 12th June onwards, the event will feature around 30 simultaneous events on the two trade days, followed by up to 80 travel-centric seminars on the two days open to the public. This year’s event stands to welcome around 60 nations among its exhibitors, 30 percent of whom are from outside the greater Asian region. Attendees will include 500 exhibitors and potentially more than 7,500 potential buyers and trade professionals. Deeper understanding In order to aid participants from the Chinese Mainland, several seminars at the event will feature AI-driven automatic translation in the form of English and Chinese subtitles flashed onscreen. At the same time, this year’s B2B Programme will include business matching for buyers and suppliers, themed talks led by global experts, pre-show promotions online for sponsored seminars; as well as seminar-workshops for niche products and new destinations. The Hong Kong Metropolitan University will also host an industry forum focused on the theme The Sustainable Shift: Where Purpose Meets Profit which features multi-generational speakers from both the corporate and academic sectors. Likewise, the highly popular Public Travel Seminars for B2C audiences are slated to return during the latter half of the event.
Retrospective: ITB China 2025
ITB China, one of the largest travel trade conferences in the Asia Pacific, formally closed the doors on its sixth edition yesterday, 29th May. We at Travel Daily Media were honoured to be among the media partners for this milestone event which brought in several thousand participants to Shanghai to take part in detailed discussions regarding the tourism sector and the attendant industries of aviation, travel, hospitality, technological development, and finance. In this feature, we list a number of observations we had from the floor throughout our coverage of the event which technically began the evening of Monday, 26th May, with a welcome gala honouring Malaysia which was this year's partner destination. China first and foremost While it's one of the biggest in the region and features a significant number of global tourism boards, airlines, and hotel management companies, ITB China really plays to local travel agencies and hospitality providers. One good thing about this is that it enables domestic destinations such as this year's location-in-focus Hubei Province to shine before both local and foreign participants. Indeed, this China-first approach enabled Hubei, Guangxi, Beijing, Shanghai, Sichuan, and Hong Kong to bring their best and brightest offerings to interested tourism and travel professionals through exhibitions, some modicum of retail, cultural performances, and key events such as signings with upcoming trade and development partners. However, this also meant that there was a definite language barrier when it came to symposia and panel discussions, as up to 90 percent were Mandarin only. Unfortunately, AI, simultaneous, and delayed translation methods used during these gatherings literally lost a good deal of the context that would have been important to foreign experts and buyers. Cultural promotion and using culture for promotion While facts and figures are interesting enough to professionals, nothing beats immersive experiences to draw crowds to a booth, and several tourism boards delivered this in spades. Many national displays attracted participants with specialities from their home countries: spiced coffee and dates from Saudi Arabia, for example, as well as the aromatic brews of Brazil, tea and traditional sweets from several Chinese provinces, mint tea from the Moroccans, and both coffee and traditional bread from the Ethiopians. There were also displays of traditional craftwork as seen above in the Arabic script calligraphy attraction of the Morocco booth, as well as the vibrant woolwork presented by the Peruvians. Traditional songs and dances also brought crowds to different parts of the hall, from the ululating chants of Arabic nations and the graceful dances of China, to Malaysian ballads sung live at the Tourism Malaysia booth and people joining dance sessions at the booths of several African nations. Who was at ITB China 2025? Middle Eastern and African destinations made up the majority of exhibitors, though European nations remained well-represented with Greece, Georgia, Italy, Spain, and Portugal taking up nearly a third of the exhibition hall. Interestingly, with the exception of Malaysia which is the partner destination for this year, there was a notable absence of Southeast Asian participants. This was particularly intriguing, given how ASEAN countries like the Philippines and Indonesia were there in full force at the Macao International Travel Expo back in April of this year, and also given how places like Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos are among the countries projected to receive a sizeable number of Chinese travellers by the end of this year. As mentioned, Brazil and Peru brought some significant South American flavour to ITB China 2025, and their national displays brought in a good number of potential buyers who wished to offer their clients a taste of the far side of the world. But given this development, North American destinations were also sorely underrepresented, with only the Los Angeles Tourism Board exhibiting and their space was small compared to others. Traditional travel agencies still did a roaring trade Considering the bright, bold, even flashy displays of dominant online travel platforms such as this year's primary sponsor Trip.com, we noticed that collective booths shared by traditional travel agencies were doing very well for themselves throughout the three days of the event. While most did not offer souvenirs or brilliant gimmicks, travel buyers were actively moving from their spaces to those of the hotel industry and aviation sector, making contacts and cutting deals whenever possible. This calls to mind one of our previous features which cited the enduring relevance of physical travel agencies that offer trips planned through human interaction despite the convenience offered by OTAs.
Japan actively deals with overtourism…but it still isn’t enough
A recent study by the World Economic Forum (WEP) reports that Japan is taking a proactive stance towards dealing with the issue of overtourism. In the report published on Tuesday, 13th May, WEP communications lead in Japan Naoko Tochibayashi and Mizuho Ota pointed out that the Japanese government has already begun to implement a variety of solutions, mostly localised, to deal with relevant issues. However, the researchers also noted that it still isn’t enough and dealing with the root cause of overtourism will require solutions that are both innovative and sustainable. The report pointed out that the Japanese government allocated JPY 15.82 billion for Emergency Measures for Preventing and Mitigating Overtourism and Improving the Reception Environment for Foreign Visitors for fiscal year 2024. In the country’s 2025 national budget, funding for overtourism measures makes up 15 percent of the total; yet the bulk of anti-overtourism measures has been noticeably local as opposed to national in scope. Indeed, what is currently lacking in Japan’s combat versus overtourism is an overarching strategy that covers the entire nation as opposed to popular destinations alone. Japanese tourism in the numbers On 4th March of this year, The New York Post reported that the Japanese government had increased their international arrivals target to 60 million tourists, an annual target that the country hopes to attain by 2030. The forecast was based on the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO)'s 16th January 2025 report that showed a total of 36.9 million foreign arrivals to the country as of 31st December 2024, predominantly spurred in by a weaker yen throughout the past year. The 2024 total is actually higher than the total for 2019, the last year before the pandemic and a year which also saw record numbers of tourists flocking into Japan, and reflects year-on-year growth of 47.1 percent. Travel agencies specialising in Japan or regularly offering trip packages to the Land of the Rising Sun reported a 54 percent increase in bookings made by families, friend groups, and corporate parties. Interestingly, 35 percent of those travelling to Japan were free and independent travellers (FITs), up by over 12 percent from 2023; 97 percent of this demographic was made up of individuals between the ages of 18 and 28, many of whom opted for budget-friendly trips. In terms of source markets, South Koreans made up the largest group at 8.8 million, with China coming in second with seven million, Taiwan with six million, and the United States at just under three million. "We don't want your kind here" While the numbers sound very good, particularly from an economic standpoint, they have caused locals a great deal of stress over the past couple of years. Japanese locals have needed to deal with numerous issues; amongst which are the following: Overstrained infrastructure and compromised service delivery Overcrowding has been noted in the major cities of Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo, along with congested transportation routes. Locals have complained over the past couple of years that tourists crowding into buses and trains have impeded their daily commute, and the way fares have increased in recent months has also fuelled the flames of discontent among the Japanese. Businesses such as hotels, inns, bars, and restaurants welcomed the influx of travellers warmly just after the pandemic, but are now rethinking things as increased demand has led to difficulties with regard to resources and the quality of service delivery. The cultural divide widens Japanese locals find certain tourist behaviors, such as loud talking, opting to skip or barge into queues, or not properly disposing of trash, to be disruptive or disrespectful. While signage and translation efforts are improving, language barriers can still create communication difficulties and misunderstandings. Rowdy tourist behaviour has also heightened social tensions, with some residents feeling marginalised, unwelcome, and even unsafe in their own cities. Mitigating the effects of overtourism While a national-level response does not seem apparent at the moment, individual organisations, companies, and even communities throughout Japan are working to offset the adverse impact of overtourism on the country. The WEP pointed out that, In October 2024, Japan Airlines and Hoshino Resorts collaborated to promote lesser-known regions to inbound tourists. The initiative worked by actively promoting relatively underrecognized “hidden gems” on their websites, social media campaigns, and package deals that combine Japan Airlines flights with accommodation at Hoshino Resorts’ facilities. Prior to this, Japan Airlines introduced a campaign in September of last year to further strengthen regional tourism, offering free domestic flights to international travellers arriving on overseas flights. This initiative is designed to facilitate the exploration of regions tourists may not have considered otherwise, and mitigate overtourism while contributing to regional revitalization. Likewise, individual prefectures and popular urban destinations are also making headway, thanks to the development of AI-driven applications to warn of potential congestion well beforehand, enabling local authorities to enact measures to prevent overflow crowds at popular sightseeing sports. Such applications are now in use by local governments in Okinawa and Hokkaido; in the latter’s case, use has extended to locals who use the app to plan their own trips or daily commutes. However, despite current proposals from national-level agencies, the bulk of overtourism measures remains community-based or community-driven. Indeed, WEP experts point out that: “Addressing these challenges requires initiatives to promote the dispersal of visitors. Japan’s public-private partnerships for mitigating overtourism should allow tourism to be directed to lesser-known areas whilst enabling crowd avoidance mechanisms that benefit regional economies, residents, and travellers alike.”
Innovation takes the floor at MITE 2025
From augmented reality to unique mobility solutions, this year's Macao International Travel Expo (MITE) put innovation in the spotlight through its dedicated space for edutourism, a fusion of travel and learning, along with several unique features that highlighted the synergy between tourism and technology. At MITE 2025, the EduTourism Hive is significantly larger than it was in previous iterations of the event, and visitors found themselves awed by the range of ideas presented. While tie-ups between academic institutions, museums, and the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) were in play, many were drawn to an interactive demonstration of augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) as a means of enhancing a traveller's experience of a given destination. Especially useful in recreating destinations as they were in their original state, AR/VR tech is already a given in Macao's tourism scene as local provider IC Art offered guests a virtual tour of the SAR's iconic Ruins of St Paul back in its glory days as the Mater Dei Church. In a virtual exhibition held last month, visitors were awestruck as modern technology restored what is known to be a last wall standing into a glorious example of Portuguese architecture in the east 400 years into the territory's colonial past. Based on this and similar exhibitions held overseas, the potential of AR/VR tech could also extend into sustainable tourism, as it would enable people to experience attractions in endangered or compromised environments in a safer, more environmentally responsible manner. Is this a better way to move around? Another innovative solution presented at MITE 2025 takes the concept of electric transportation to the next level. On display in the centre of the EduTourism Hive was a prototype of a next-generation single person flyer. Essentially similar to the personal air taxis that are now doing test flights in Europe, this innovative take on urban mobility offers a more sustainable way of getting from one place to another without adding to the increasingly heavy traffic seen in too many thoroughfares the world over. The prototype and similar vehicles boast that these are certainly kinder to the environment as they are electric and may be recharged, exude no harmful emissions, and thus leave a significantly smaller carbon footprint. However, it should be noted that, as of press time, there are two things standing in the way of these solo flyers: safety, of course, and the potential cost. It is worth noting that prototypes currently being tested in Europe are being pitched to ride-hailing firms; so we may just see a shift from a four-wheeler Grab or GoJek to one that easily and speedily flies you to work without needing to catch a bus, cab, or even a commuter train. Virtual hosting in a completely different context But perhaps one of the most visible innovations seen at this year's MITE is the fact that the opening ceremony was hosted by not one, but two humanoid AI anchors. Alongside these avatars, simultaneous translation of the speeches delivered in Mandarin during the opening ceremony appeared as running text on the screens mounted onstage. Granted that the translations were imperfect as there is only so much a listening ear (human or machine) can process, it made for an impressive beginning to an event that continues to cast the spotlight on an industry that is every bit as dynamic and evolutionary as the work of scientists and developers in our rapidly changing world.
HBX Group takes travel AI to the next level
Independent B2B travel tech marketplace HBX Group is set to take the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the global travel sector to the next level. With a strategic evolution focused on automation and personalisation, the company is optimising hotel distribution, improving customer service and facilitating real-time decision making. Thanks to the integration of advanced AI models, HBX Group already handles 20 percent of customer service contacts exclusively through AI in those areas where it has been implemented, reducing response times to seconds for the most common requests. This progress reinforces HBX Group’s position as a leader in technological innovation, with plans to further expand automation and improve service quality. Not the future but the present According to chief operations officer Xabier Zabala, AI is not the future, but it is the present. Zabala said: “AI’s impact on distribution and personalisation of the journey is already generating tangible results for our customers and partners. With this evolution, we are improving operational efficiency and offering a more agile service adapted to the needs of the market.” In order to achieve this, the company has implemented multiple AI-based solutions that are revolutionising the booking management, customer service and commercial management of its partners. These solutions include: Automated omnichannel customer service; Implementation of virtual assistants through chat, email and web channels that not only resolve frequent queries, but also manage requests and bookings, with unbeatable response times; Training of new recruits; Transformation of the process of preparing and training new customer service agents with the use of a new AI tool that realistically simulates the interactions and assistance needs of customers, being able to simulate multiple scenarios, languages and levels of difficulty; Automated content improvement; Automatic identification and execution of improvement opportunities in hotel service descriptions and experiences, as well as immediate translation into 18 languages; Anomaly prediction and detection; and Machine learning models that identify unusual patterns in bookings and user behaviour, enabling faster and more accurate detections of phishing attempts and thwarting the targets of cybercriminals How AI stands to change teamwork in the face of evolving automation Beyond transforming the customer experience, AI is redefining the way support and distribution teams operate at HBX Group. The automation of repetitive tasks has enabled customer service agents and sales teams to focus on strategic and higher value-added aspects. To support this change, the company has launched specific training programmes for its customer service teams to develop the skills needed to work in conjunction with AI systems. These include training using AI agents that behave like customers to train teams to handle more complex cases and deliver higher-value interactions, demand prediction to efficiently manage resources, advanced itinerary personalisation, expansion of virtual assistants in multiple languages and automation of financial processes. In addition, they seek to implement predictive AI that not only responds to customer needs, but anticipates them, thus improving user experience and operational management. According to Zabala: “With these initiatives, we reaffirm our commitment to technological innovation and the digital transformation of the tourism sector, consolidating our position as a benchmark in the application of AI to optimise processes and improve the customer experience.” How technology stands to change security, transparency, and compliance The implementation of AI at HBX Group is accompanied by rigorous security and compliance protocols to ensure data protection and transparency in the use of these technologies. All solutions developed comply with international standards, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other industry-relevant regulations. To avoid bias and ensure responsible use and operation, the company has developed a system of continuous auditing and monitoring. This monitoring allows the performance of AI models to be evaluated, ensuring that recommendations and automations are interpretable, auditable and aligned with HBX Group values.
Phuket Hotels for Islands Sustaining Tourism (PHIST 5)
PHIST (Phuket Hotels for Islands Sustaining Tourism) 2022 is an innovative event rallying the hotel industry and its stakeholders to discuss both environmental sustainability and social impact and governance.