Robots shake up check-in at Berlin travel fair; Turkish travel minister says Turkey is safe for tourist visitors

Record ID: 111253

  • Title: Robots shake up check-in at Berlin travel fair; Turkish travel minister says Turkey is safe for tourist visitors
  • Date: 10th March 2016
  • Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (MARCH 9, 2016) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF INTERNATIONAL TOURISM FAIR (ITB) EXHIBITION HALLS AT MESSE BERLIN BANNER AT ENTRANCE READING: 'ITB BERLIN' HUMAMOID ROBOT NAMED CHIHIRA KANAE IN FOYER WELCOMING ITB VISITORS VARIOUS OF CHIHIRA KANAE TALKING AND BLINKING VIDEO SCREEN SHOWING DATA OF CHIHIRA KANAE CHIHIRA KANAE TALKING VISITOR ELISA HOENIG WITH FRIENDS LOOKING AT CHIHIRA KANAE (SOUNDBITE) (German) VISITOR ELISA HOENIG, SAYING: "Slightly scary. You don't expect that she is turning around and changes her facial expression. She is blinking. This is the future, scary future. But it's not bad." EUROPEAN PRESIDENT OF TRAVELZOO INTERNET COMPANY, RICHARD SINGER, STANDING NEXT TO CHIHIRA KANAE (SOUNDBITE) (English) EUROPEAN PRESIDENT OF TRAVELZOO INTERNET COMPANY, RICHARD SINGER, SAYING: "Yes, so I think we are already seeing robots within travel and pretty much more sectors, cruise, airlines, airports, hotels and I think what we seeing them being used today is with sort of lower skilled roles, things like room service or you know luggage sorting, so we are seeing that already today, but I think it's really about the next development of robots which is gonna play a really significant part of travel going into the future." CHIHIRA KANAE VARIOUS OF GENERAL MANAGER OF MARRIOTT HOTEL IN GHENT, ROGER LANGHOUT, PLAYING WITH MARIO (SOUNDBITE) (English) GENERAL MANAGER OF MARRIOTT HOTEL IN GHENT, ROGER LANGHOUT, SAYING: "And we learnt how to use Mario in our hotel in three ways. One is at the front desk to welcome our customers in 19 different languages and to assist the front office in handing out the key card. So the front office first hands out the key card to Mario and Mario gives it to the guest. That's a small form of interaction and that already puts a smile on the guest's face and adds to the guest's experience. The second part is our meeting and events departments. Mario can do the opening of a conference, addressing the entire group of people and also he can read out powerpoint presentations." MARIO (SOUNDBITE) (English) GENERAL MANAGER OF MARRIOTT HOTEL IN GHENT, ROGER LANGHOUT, SAYING: "The third piece, where we use Mario, is for entertainment. He can dance, he can sing, he can put on a show and he can also interact during a sports game, with kids for instance." GOFFIN USING TABLET COMPUTER TO OPERATE MARIO VARIOUS OF STANDS INCLUDING TURKISH STAND AND VISITORS IN TOURISM HALL VARIOUS OF TURKISH TOURISM MINISTER, MAHIR UNAL, TRYING OUT CALLIGRAPHY AT CALLIGRAPHY STAND. (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH TOURISM MINISTER, MAHIR UNAL, SAYING: "Today, I had various conversations with German tour organizers. They have confirmed that at the moment Turkey has no security problem. However, they said that in the public perception there is a certain concern. So, obviously it is the case that the incidents in our neighbouring country on the south-eastern border, Syria, are perceived as if the existing problems would have effects on Turkey. That is not the case. The German general public can be assured that tourist regions in Turkey are absolutely safe and that there is absolutely no risk there." CLOSE-UP OF TURKISH TOURISM MINISTER'S LAPEL BADGE (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH TOURISM MINISTER, MAHIR UNAL, SAYING: "I would herewith like to appeal to all our German guests and invite them to benefit from and get to know our legendary hospitality, our cultural and natural beauties and visit our country." TURKISH TOURIST SIGNS WITH SLOGANS 'WELCOME TO TURKEY'
  • Embargoed: 25th March 2016 17:27
  • Keywords: Tourism ITB Robot Science Travel Berlin Turkey tourism Syria conflict
  • Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
  • City: BERLIN, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Economic Events
  • Reuters ID: LVA00148CJIJ1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:It's not just humans taking part in the world's largest travel fair this year. Two humanoid robots named Chihira Kanae and Mario are attending the ITB in Berlin to show how they can be put to use in the travel industry and breathe new life into checking in to hotels.
    Despite modern technology, the travel industry remains a resolutely people business. But some hotels and airlines are toying with new robot technology in a bid to liven up certain processes such as check-in or to help people running to make a flight.
    Toshiba showed off its lifelike humanoid robot hostess, Chihira Kanae, in Berlin. With her dark hair and flowing hand movements, she answers pre-programmed questions about the fair and even what her favourite film is. While some visitors were slightly scared by Kanae's movements and blinking eyes, other's tried to ask her out for dinner, which however, fell on deaf ears.
    A survey of travellers across Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Canada, Brazil, Japan, the U.S. and China, done by online travel and entertainment deals site Travelzoo showed that 80 percent of consumers expected robots to play a big role in their lives before 2020.
    "I think we are already seeing robots within travel and pretty much more sectors, cruise, airlines, airports, hotels and I think what we seeing them being used today is with sort of lower skilled roles, things like room service or you know luggage sorting, so we are seeing that already today, but I think it's really about the next development of robots which is gonna play a really significant part of travel going into the future," Richard Singer, Travelzoo's European President, predicted.
    The Marriott hotel in Ghent has also been trialling a less lifelike-looking robot named Mario, a 6.7 kilogramme Aldebaran robot powered by Zora Bot software, that the hotel uses to hand out room keys and also liven up meetings held in the hotel by reading out power presentations.
    "The biggest challenge for a software is to make it useable for everyone. The hardware has seven microphones, it has a gyrometer just like in an airplane, you can wake him up, you can say: 'Say hello', so he says hello, even a high-five with three fingers, this is unique in the world. No other robot, no other human is doing that," explained Fabrice Goffin, Co-Ceo of Zora Robotics. The aim of the company was not to replace human beings, but to work alongside them in order to assist. Roger Langhout, general manager of the Marriott in Ghent said Mario was a 'great add-on service'. "That already puts a smile on the guest's face and adds to the guest's experience," Langhout said. To replace human personnel is yet too far out for Langhout and Marriott hotels have been keen to stress that Mario is not intended to replace any human staff.
    Humanoid robots are currently also being tested at airports. Airline KLM for example is also testing a guide robot, Spencer, to help passengers navigate their way through Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, one of Europe's largest hubs.
    The fair was also visited by Turkish Tourism Minister, Mahir Unal, who took the opportunity to reassure German visitors that Turkey's tourist areas were safe, despite the conflict in Syria. Holidays bookings to Turkey have fallen significantly in recent months.
    "Today, I had various conversations with German tour organizers. They have confirmed that at the moment Turkey has no security problem. However, they said that in the public perception there is a certain concern. So, obviously it is the case that the incidents in our neighbouring country on the south-eastern border, Syria, are perceived as if the existing problems would have effects on Turkey. That is not the case. The German general public can be assured that tourist regions in Turkey are absolutely safe and that there is absolutely no risk there," he said.
    "I would herewith like to appeal to all our German guests and invite them to benefit from and get to know our legendary hospitality, our cultural and natural beauties and visit our country," he added.
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