Voice Search Is Stuck in Tourism Marketing Limbo
Photo Credit: There has been much creativity in travel marketing around voice-based search. Unsplash / Jonathan Borba
Skift Take
Voice search has been dead-end for creativity in destination marketing. Unless generative AI steps in, it will never be its own channel and remain a boring add-on of text-based search.
The great promise and hype by travel executives several years ago about the potential of voice search to revolutionize the industry have gone nowhere. Voice-based search hasn't progressed as serious destination marketing avenue because the technology underpinning it yet can’t drive effective engagement, inspire travel and handle the complexity of travel search.
The recent introduction of ChatGPT has reignited the discussion around AI and its applications, one of which is voice recognition. Voice search uses speech recognition technology to search the web. Consumers can use it on smart devices like a smart speaker, phone, connected TV, etc. One estimate has it that half of U.S. consumers use voice search daily. About one-third of Americans own a smart speaker, according to Statista.
While voice tech continues to proliferate, its potential has stalled in travel marketing. Before the pandemic, voice was on the to-do-list for travel marketers to capitalize on. “There was a
