NAO Launching: 2025 Season of AI Opener for Destinations
Building on the successful 2024 season with almost 60 DMOs/NTOs, we are excited to share that AI Opener for Destinations now kicks off a new season, starting January 2025 with new formats, flexible programming and destination AI use cases.
Read more Pool of Cool Tools - A Landscape
If you work in destination management and are exploring how to use AI, our AI Opener for Destinations program offers a curated selection of tools to get you started. The pool is grouped into different categories—from creative and marketing to event planning and visitor experiences—so you can find what suits you best. If you are curious how destinations could adopt these tools or if AI is worth adopting at all, we would love to have this conversation with you.
Read more NAO Launching: Canadian Cohort
NOVEMBER 2024: Kicking-off already in 2024, nine AI-curious Canadian destinations form the Canadian cohort of 'AI Opener for Destinations'. The Canadian cohort will join forces with the US one in 2025, which then will be named the North American cohort. 'AI Opener for Destinations' now consists of almost 70 Destination Partners. Welcome to all Canadians!
Predictive AI
OCTOBER 2024: With the boom of GenAI it’s easy to think of artificial intelligence as something that appeared recently. Machine learning and predicitive AI has been around for a while, but still quite few DMOs have adopted forecasting analytics. AI Opener for Destinations’ 8th Live Session gathered AI experts, latest research, 55 destination professionals, and DMO/NTO use cases to focus on the intersection of AI and tourism forecasting.
AI Opener EU BotCamp
SEPTEMBER 2024: During two very eventful days in Copenhagen (Sep 4th-5th), almost 60 AI-curious programme participants joined for the in-person event 'AI Opener BotCamp'. DMO colleagues from 27 different destinations and 6 AI Experts co-created insights and joint learnings when workshopping about how to strategize with AI and how to responsibly apply AI. Frequent notes were taken in the AI Opener Workbook and everyone left with an AI Roadmap, that enables the DMOs to methodically and strategically approach AI when getting back home again.
Hi hAIdi!
AUGUST 2024: The joint AI learning programme AI Opener for Destinations is all about getting together and learn about AI together. This also includes learning from each other! Switzerland Tourism shared both their strategic AI framework but also about their latest AI tools in the second global AI Opener Deep Dive, including the bot hAIdi. Programme partners from both the EU and US cohort wanted to know more, and live demos and meaningful exchanges took place. Peer sharing and DMO-specific use cases are essential parts of the learning programme, and many DMOs have taken quite some steps ahead since the programme's start. Have you started your AI journey yet?
Read more AI Opener US BotCamp
JULY 2024: On July 16th, the US cohort met for a mini-BotCamp in connection to the Destinations International Annual Convention in Tampa, Florida. The focus of the BotCamp was AI policy guidelines. The policy and guideline discussion was led by AI Expert Advisor and lawyer Roxanne Steinhoff – and resulted in a list of key consideration and reflection points for a DMO policy on use of AI.
60 Programme Partners
JULY 2024: We are happy that AI Opener for Destination's 24th US Cohort participant has joined the program – Travel Alaska. Welcome! The joint AI learning programme has now 60 programme partners.
Read more How can AI enhance the competitiveness of the Tourism Industry?
JULY 2024: Group NAO had the honor of moderating a panel of travel-tech masterminds from both China and Europe, when meeting in Hungarian Budapest at the EU-China Tourism Dialogue last week, organized by Hungarian Tourism Agency, European Travel Commission and World Travel Alliance.
It’s time to jump on the AI train in order to not be left behind on the platform, but the AI tracks are not yet necessarily fully maintained. In this “in-between-time”, when both tech solutions and consumer behavioral patterns are at different positions, the best solutions might be a combination of several AI tools to optimize your offer. Fostering a curious and innovative culture of experimentation is key, already concluded in an ancient Chinese proverb: “It’s better to travel 10 000 miles than to read 10 000 books”. Have you started your AI experimentation yet?
Pool of Cool Tools - Download your Copy!
JUNE 2024: Eager to start your AI explorative journey but you just do not know how to? In the joint AI learning programme 'AI Opener for Destinations', all programme partners are encouraged to test tools and the ones that are specifically useful for DMOs and NTOs have been cherry-picked and put in certain overviews.
This sort of overview is called 'Pool of Cool Tools' and throughout the programme already four different ones have been prepared. Each one of them is focusing on one specific DMO function. AI tools for CVBs, the Marketing team or perhaps the Tourist Information Centre? Have a look and start testing!
Read more Did you wake up feeling creative?
JUN 2024: If not, we can gladly recommend spending one hour with creativity wizard Jordan Ellis, Community Relationship Manager at Adobe. After that, you will be loaded with eagerness to explore the creative AI opportunities for destination marketing and imagery.
Trying AI tools is essential to actually getting started with AI. During AI Opener’s third Deep Dive, and the very first global one, DMO professionals from both the US and Europe got to explore the possibilities of Adobe Firefly, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Express and Adobe Photoshop. Being member of Content Authenticity Initiative, Adobe also presented ways of verifying content with Content Credentials.
5th Live Session (EU): AI-Igniting the CVBs and Event Teams with Project SPARK
MAY 2024: When discussing "AI for CVBs & Events", all participating CVB and event professionals got to experience Project SPARK, presented by Gevme. The tool can change ways of working and in the Live Session Wonderful Copenhagen shared their initial moves with AI. German Convention Bureau also took the crowd on an AI tour, and many AI tools pinpointed for meetings and events were highlighted.
How are YOU introducing AI to your CVB and Event organisation? We believe that it is especially relevant to reflect upon after the recent game-plan-changing updates from OpenAI and Google, and in this joint learning programme we keep digging deeper and wider.
4th Live Session (EU): Balancing the AI-powered Welcome with the Human Touch
APR 2024: Boosted by a Grand Tour of the AI landscape for Guest Services, presented by AI Opener Expert Advisor Joshua Ryan-Saha, all joined participants got to discuss ongoing initiatives, potentials and pitfalls when AI-powering Welcome & Guest Services. Austrian National Tourist Office's "Austria Concierge" and mind-blowing Mindtrip served as inspiration before looking into the future of travel reviews and bookings by Tripadvisor.
AI travel assistants are getting more personalized (if data allows), and next step might be hyper-personalization. Can AI offer more personalized service than an actual person?
Classic Storytelling in an AI World
APR 2024: AI is an incredible accelerator, igniting the human spark of creativity. That came clear in very first episode of the US Deep Dives, when myth-making content wizard Jordan Wollman, VP at Odyssey Studios, engaged interactively with curious US destinations. Stories connect, inspire and even outlive us. And AI can be part of it.
3rd Live Session (EU): A Curious Crowd of 100 (or 99?)
95 super curious destination professionals, 4 keynote speakers and 1 virtual influencer got together for the AI Opener's third European session about "AI for Virtual Storytelling and Image Generation". The two-hours session was jam-packed with insights from Getty Images, RAUWcc (and their virtual brand ambassador Esther Olofsson), the national tourism organisation of the Netherlands (NBTC) and with some mind-blowing content from one of the learning programme's Expert Advisors. Participating humans and the only digital human gained new knowledge about AI in the creative parts of Destination Marketing.
AI Opener Deep Dives!
MAR 2024: AI Opener for Destinations is all about getting destinations started with AI. But the learning programme also offers challenges for medium-level and advanced professionals. Just two months after the kick-off, the AI Opener Expert, Prof. Dr. Dr. Roman Egger has introduced the very first Deep Dive in image generation. More AI Opener Deep Dives are just some waves away.
Read more Twice as much fun!
MAR 2024: Group NAO is proud to introduce the great collaboration with Miles Partnership, responsible for running the US Cohort of "AI Opener for Destinations". This ambitious partnership means that the AI peer-sharing levels up massively by welcoming 23 curious American DMOs to the already confirmed 36 European ones. We gladly wish all US peers welcome onboard this explorative AI journey!
Read more Is GenAI Greek to you?
MAR 2024: Over 4000 participants joined the second European "GenAI Summit" in Athens, Greece. The AI learning programme "AI Opener for Destinations" also gained interest on the stage, when GenAI in Tourism/Hospitality was discussed in a panel debate facilitated by Dimitris Georgiou, Deloitte. Together with Travelmyth's Co-Founder John Nousis and Master Coffee Roaster Antonis Tzarougian, the Global Programme Lead of AI Opener, Magnus Hessbo, shared his thoughts on GenAI for DMOs and the travel sector in general.
Read more The Programme's Prompt Queen
FEB 2024: Is prompting an art or actually engineering? Either way, the AI Opener Expert Janette Roush shares her best pieces of advice in the learning programme. A specially designed "Prompt School" contains essential guides on how to become a master of prompt engineering art.
Ready for Resources?
FEB 2024: Launch time for the AI Opener Resource Center! This learning platform will week by week be filled with AI learnings, recordings, interviews, guides, reports, prompt school and much more. In the end of the year all DMOs will have a complete AI toolkit for getting started (or continuing) with their AI initiatives.
Read more Live Sessions tailor-made for DMOs
FEB 2024: "AI Opener for Destinations" is an AI learning programme uniquely created for DMOs/NTOs/CVBs. Each Live Session of the programme is based on the various functions of a DMO. First themed topic to be discussed: Destination Marketing! Over 100 participants got the latest news about AI tools for marketing, user cases from both Europe and the US as well as exploring concrete platforms like Intentful's HappyPlaces.
Welcome! Powitanie! Welkom! Benvenuto! Välkommen!
JAN 2024: Finally kick-off for 'AI Opener for Destinations'! About 85 participants got to meet the avatar of Signe Jungersted, CEO at Group NAO. The first introduction live session will be followed by another 11 deep-dives tailor-made for each function of the DMO.
Read more ETC is new Collaborative Partner
JAN 2024: European Travel Commission, representing the National Tourist Organisations of Europe, is new Collaborative Partner to 'AI Opener for Destinations' (along already confirmed CityDNA). Since best practice sharing is one of the ETC's core principles, this unique learning programme is a great match when offering AI up-skilling and peer-to-peer learning in the travel sector.
Read more Ready or not, here (A)I come!
JAN 2024: CityDNA and Group NAO are excited to publish the results of a new survey exploring the transformative impact of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) on the work of destination professionals. The results reveal an interesting dichotomy: Whilst destination managers agree that Gen AI will have a significant impact on the entire industry, DMOs and CVBs seem neither ready nor prepared to adopt the new technology.
Read more AI Opener Expert Advisory Group
DEC 2023: Four prominent AI experts are hand-picked to co-steer the high-qualitative learning programme. Group NAO is very excited to collaborate with the geniuses Damiano Cerrone, Janette Roush, Prof. Dr. Dr. Roman Egger and Joshua Saha-Ryan.
City Destinations Alliance is AI Opener's Collaborative Partner
NOV 2023: The AI-related wonderings from European destinations have echoed for some months, and CityDNA is determined to facilitate the AI-upskilling among DMOs by joining the learning programme as Collaborative Partner.
Read more Group NAO is launching "AI Opener for Destinations"
NOV 2023: AI is on everyone's lips and minds. And the AI development goes amazingly quick. How to get started? In the true spirit of "we are better together", Group NAO launches a multi-client AI learning programme that promises to be both hands-on and brains-on. This unique joint learning programme is tailor-made for DMOs, CVBs and NTOs and is aimed to actually get destination professionals started. Let's go and let's go together!
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