In a breakout session during the AMI Conference this week, Hollywood, Fla.-based hotel management company AD1 Global, which has been at the forefront of using artificial intelligence to streamline the business, gave insight into how AI could be used in marina operations.
“We are successful using it in the hospitality industry, and we’ll look into the crystal ball to see how it could work in your industry,” said Jon McMillan, corporate director of e-commerce and marketing at AD1 Global.
“We can help you figure out how to apply AI to be more productive, more efficient, make more money and make more boaters happier,” added CEO and president Daniel Berman.
McMillan said that AD1’s presenting at the AMI Conference came about because someone from the marina industries group read an article in Forbes about AD1’s experience with AI.
The hotel company was losing potential business because it couldn’t keep up with the volume of phone inquiries. AI allowed the company answer calls without adding staff.
“With AI, all those calls get answered,” McMillan said. “We have seen a 98% increase in positive reaction to AI in telephoning, chat and social media.” When the call moves to booking a room and credit-card information, the system switches to a live attendant.
McMillan said that at their core, the hospitality and marina industries offer similar services, accommodating customers.
“If you could have AI in the marinas to keep track of each boat and remind the owners when the maintenance schedule needs to be done, it would be good service and create more jobs for the loyal companies that work with each marina,” Berman said.
McMillan explained that when his company first started using AI, a hotel general manager was concerned because he didn’t want to lose employees. McMillan said AD1 isn’t looking to eliminate workers. Once the inquiry cycle reaches a certain point, the “human touch” takes over.
Additionally, with AI handling basic questions, a hotel employee can spend more time with a guest, enhancing the personal interaction. “A human needs to be able to play the game with more humans,” McMillan said. “The goal is to lessen the burden on the human.”
The ways AI might help a marina include include systems automation, weather monitoring, resource allocation, customer-service monitoring, mooring availability, implementing a smart booking application and using ChatGPT to help boaters search for marinas.
“I want to go to marina and eat seafood, sleep at a hotel, gas up and get service for my boat, “McMillan said, giving an example of a Chat GPT inquiry. With AI and the ChatGPT, a user can further narrow the focus of the inquiry.
If a marina implements sensors, they can detect when a boat departs or arrives and assign a slip that has the required connections for the vessel. For service monitoring, AI can analyze such data as engine condition, fuel consumption and more.
Attendees wanted an idea of what they could expect for their investment. “We got in on beta testing costs,” McMillan said. “We estimate the ROI at 100 to 1.”
