Every so often, a technological marvel explodes into an overnight sensation that trends worldwide. We’ve seen everything, from the audio app, Clubhouse, which got millions of people talking, to the growing video-sharing revolution ignited by the social media platform TikTok. Now, ChatGPT is the artificial intelligence (AI) assistant that garnered almost instant fame – and controversy. Some fear it may take jobs, but maybe the real opportunity is that it could create them in Cape Town’s tourism sector.

Contrary to popular belief, the generative language model trained by OpenAI isn’t intelligent enough to replace humans, especially considering that its knowledge is limited to 2021 data. Instead, our tourism industry can leverage its capabilities to create more jobs by improving customer experiences, increasing foot traffic, growing revenues, and accelerating the sector’s post-pandemic recovery.

Why this natural language AI is the talk of the town

Cape Town's tourism sector has taken a severe hit from the COVID-19 pandemic, with many businesses forced to close or operate at reduced capacity. However, as the Mother City looks to rebuild and recover, ChatGPT is showcasing its potential to aid the industry and generate new jobs.

ChatGPT uses AI to generate human-like responses to text inputs. And while the technology is still relatively new, it has already shown immense promise in improving tourist experiences.

Recent Gartner findings reveal that customer service and support leaders are optimistic about the value AI can add to the sector. As a result, they plan to substantially increase their adoption of AI capabilities over the next two years.

The research highlights several benefits this technology can offer customer service industries. These include simplifying the job responsibilities of customer-facing staff by performing administrative duties so they can concentrate on delivering meaningful interactions that emphasise human connection.

ChatGPT is a steppingstone towards Cape Town Tourism’s future job creation vision

Leveraging ChatGPT’s capabilities can revolutionise how Cape Town Tourism positions destinations and creates engaging experiences for local and international visitors. It can also boost Cape Town’s tourism business growth and create new job opportunities for residents in various ways.

For example:

• Hotels and travel agencies can use this technology to provide 24/7 customer service and support, helping tourists with their queries and concerns, day or night. This can free up businesses to assign more human employees to engage customers on a more personal level and improve the quality of service.
• Thanks to ChatGPT's natural language processing capabilities, it can understand and respond to booking requests conversationally. It can handle queries from myriad customers simultaneously, allowing tourism businesses to scale their customer service operations through additional staff, significantly reducing response times and improving overall efficiency.
• ChatGPT can also gather and process customer data so businesses can gather insights into customer needs and preferences – helping boost their revenue through improved and tailored products and services.
• The Mother City’s businesses can also use this data to provide more tourists with personalised recommendations and advice based on their preferences and interests. This personalisation improves the tourist experience and creates new jobs for local guides and experts who can add their insider knowledge and expertise to create truly unique and memorable experiences.
• Lastly, it can help drive foot traffic to the region's businesses and tourist destinations by connecting visitors to relevant information about local attractions, accommodations, and airport services based on their interests and personalising the travel experience.

Embracing a new age

ChatGPT can transform our region’s tourism industry, creating new jobs and opportunities for growth and innovation. By leveraging this technology, businesses can recover from the impact of COVID-19 and position themselves for long-term success in a rapidly changing industry.