Ascott leverages AI with new chatbot providing personalised services

CapitaLand’s wholly owned lodging business unit, The Ascott Limited (Ascott) has launched an AI-powered chatbot named Cubby to enhance the journey of its guests by being their travel buddy and supporting Ascott‘s growth.

Through Microsoft OpenAI and Azure Services, Cubby will provide guests with a personalised itinerary of destination highlights, accommodation recommendations, suggestions for activities, as well as the best locations for pictures, to name a few.

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Cubby also leverages real-time data from Ascott’s site, Bing search, and Azure Map’s weather and location software services.

“An exciting quest of learning and discovery begins as Ascott takes its first step into the future of personalised travel exploration with the pilot launch of Cubby, where innovation meets warm and cuddly hospitality,” said Tan Bee Leng, Ascott’s managing director for brand and marketing in a statement.

“Cubby, with its AI prowess, taps into a vast treasure trove of data, enabling fast analysis of travel preferences, trends, and recommendations; from suggesting hidden gems to tailoring itineraries that match specific areas of interests,” she continued.

Users will be able to customise and amend the generated itineraries according to their travel preferences while also requesting health and safety information, advice on visa requirements, travel budgets and packing checklists from Cubby.

The AI-powered chatbot is currently in its test-bedding stage and will be supporting Ascott’s live agents round the clock to allow its agents to focus on responding to more complex inquiries which require thorough engagement with guests, said the brand in a statement.

Ascott also plans to make Cubby a multichannel to integrate different applications in anticipation of evolving guest expectations. In its efforts to utilise AI in its guest solutions, Ascott plans to implement a natural processing AI to analyse sentiment in its guest feedback. The tool will be expected to decipher nuances in language and will be test-bedded in select countries before a global rollout.

With a sentiment analysis, the tool will also generate specific and constructive suggestions for each Ascott property to elevate guest satisfaction and provide strategic insights for the hospitality group in designing new properties.

Ascott also recently refreshed its flagship Ascott brand with a hotel-in-residence model and new brand signatures to cater to the consumer’s appetite for different experiences.

Ascott's brand refresh showcases the brand’s flex-hybrid accommodation concept with an added level of adaptability that enables Ascott to cater for varying lengths of stay for a variety of guest profiles.

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