Virtual City Ambassador For Chicago
The tourism and hospitality sector faced severe challenges during the global pandemic as COVID restrictions fluctuated, leading to a cycle of city and country closures and reopenings. In 2021, Choose Chicago, the city's official destination marketing organization, recognized the need to adapt to this new, ever-changing landscape. Their goal was to increase visitor numbers to Chicago, encouraging travelers to engage with local cultural experiences beyond just the downtown area, and to provide them with timely information about the city’s reopening. To achieve this, they partnered with BotsCrew to develop an AI chatbot called The Bean. This virtual assistant helps answer tourists' inquiries, recommends new places and events, and acts as a representative of Chicago. The Bean can handle questions about different neighborhoods, dining options, attractions, breweries, events, celebrities, and more. It even engages in conversational exchanges, responding to playful queries like, “Do you like New York?” Overall, the chatbot covers 63 topics. Currently, it is accessible on Chicago's main tourism website, drawing in 500 users daily and achieving over 80% accuracy in responses, with a user satisfaction rate of 74.7%.