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Mr.
Sloth is a new tourist chatbot operator
By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Costa Rican Tourism Institute announced Mr. Sloth, a virtual drawing of a three-toed sloth, will respond through a chatbot to inquiries from national and foreign tourists on the Visit Costa Rica site here.* The application works interactively and is driven by artificial intelligence in a chatbot format. "Tourist attention must be efficient and high-quality, for this reason, the use of new technologies such as this chatbot with artificial intelligence is an important step for the optimal development of our management of the support given to domestic and foreign tourists, providing them with answers to their requests and informational needs on a 24 by 7 basis, while they are planning their trip to Costa Rica," said Víctor Ramírez, Head of Tourist Services. The development of Mr. Sloth was created by the Institute to improve access to the information contained on its website, which registers 200,000 visitors yearly. "Mr. Sloth has been programmed to interact with users by using colloquial language and a friendly personality, both in English and Spanish," said the Institute in its statement. According to the Institute, the chat can answer more than twenty thousand questions and is a tool to get to know the queries and search preferences of tourists interested in visiting the country. Mr. Sloth's goal is to improve access to tourist information, as well as provide assistance and security for tourists before they arrive in the country, said the Institute in its statement. According to the Institute, this is the first chatbot of its kind in Central America. "Mr. Sloth is friendly, attentive, and always willing to collaborate," said the Institute in its statement. On August 8th, as A.M. Costa Rica previously reported, the institute statistics reported, 1,725,963 people have arrived in the country during the first half of this year, from January to June. The statistics include all arrivals by air, sea, land, and rivers. Of the 1.7 million people, 1,335,687 people arrived on flights. The main terminal for tourists to enter the country is Juan Santamaría International Airport*, in the province of Alajuela. During the same period, 979,651 people arrived. "The increase was 3.5 percent in the first half," said the Institute in its statement. Related to Daniel Oduber International Airport* in the province of Guanacaste, 356,175 people arrived during the same period. It also registered an increase of 7.5 percent in the number of passengers. "The figures reflect stable and solid growth," said María Amalia Revelo, Minister of Tourism. "The increase in arrivals from Europe shows that Costa Rica has become an important destination in that market." According to the Ministry, during the same period, 9,098 people arrived from Europe. Of those, 4,257 passengers were German citizens, which represents an increase of 13.7 percent related to the same period in 2018. The Ministry international arrival statistics are based on data from the General Directorate of Migration and Foreigners ------------------------ What other technological tools could the institute offer tourists to improve their experience during their visit to the country? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com |
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