“Welcome to this year’s family reunion”, Rainer Edlinger from Salzburgerland Tourism Board says. Together with his team, he has organised Castle Camp Kaprun, a conference of a kind that finally takes place again in 2023 (after a break of several years due to the global pandemic).
The so-called “bar camp” conference, which discusses topics such as the use of artificial intelligence in tourism, social media marketing and other exciting, digital trends, addresses all “tourism professionals with an online affinity”. It is taking place for the 13th time since it began in 2008. Check out www.castlecamp.at for more.
Let’s go #cczk23 : My four-year-old son Liam joins me at this year’s Castle Camp Kaprun conference.
AI: The “iPhone moment” of 2007 …
In 2014, attending my first #cczk14 bar camp conference, I’ve already enjoyed talking about blogger relations in tourism together with my colleagues in the courtyard of the historic Kaprun Castle. This year, too, there was renewed interest in the topic, triggered by the now well-established, successfully managed content creator & social media campaigns.
However, the defining topic of this year’s conference is the Brave New World of AI. There are just so many possibilities that arise from the targeted use of ChatGPT and other, related technology. The #cczk23 experts are deep in conversation, I listen to them with fascination. At the same time, I have to admit that even I, with my interest in the subject, cannot always keep up with all the trends pointed out to us 😀
The current development of artificial intelligence is compared to the “iPhone moment” of 2007, when Steve Jobs entered the stage with the then revolutionary iPhone. Back then, too, no one knew “exactly what would be possible with this thing in the shortest possible time”: the general tenor is similar now with ChatGPT. “It’s coming,” all #cczk23 participants agree, and: “AI will overtake us just as drastically as the Industrial Revolution.” Woah! Now that’s an announcement.
Involuntarily, my thoughts go to my two little boys: What will their world look like when they grow up? What will they consider normal, that still seems strange, even revolutionary to us today?
Now, not so revolutionary, but finally happening again: the cosy chatting and networking atmosphere at the #cczk23 Castle Camp Kaprun.
Rainer Edlinger taking the time to show Liam “where the knight of the castle lives”. Thank you, Rainer, for truly caring about our youngest conference participant!
Bar camp sessions be like … this. Talking, sharing, networking in the parlour of the Kaprun Castle.
Where to go from here? Some of the (AI-directed) suggestions are: Wait and see, go try it out. And continue to work in a customer-oriented way.
ChatGPT simplifies search. It delivers summaries instead of lists. Actual answers to questions. Questions, I am told, should be asked as “prompts or long-tail keywords”, i.e. search queries in several sentences or paragraphs – probably in order to feed the AI more specifically with information about the background of a question and thus receive more targeted answers. Günter Exel, a colleague of many years and now an expert in AI training in the local tourism and hotel industry, recommends “WebChatGPT”, i.e. using the app instead of the web.
But what about data protection?, interjects a participant. Well. In Europe, says another, at least “we encourage data protection” compared to other parts of the world that “take everything related to personal data much more lightly”.
So what’s the conclusion, then? (Very) Difficult to say at this point. Try it all out, keep an open mind, experiment, is the common answer. Special interest WhatsApp groups, as well as positive word of mouth, should not be disregarded either in the wake of all the excitement surrounding the possibilities of AI. Long-established, well-managed blogs and other websites certainly also play their role.
What is your attitude towards the topic of AI in travel? Is it already relevant to you, and if so, how? If not, where would you be interested in it?
Thank you so much Rainer Edlinger, Beate Mader, for having us join “your” very interesting Castle Camp Kaprun!