Tomorrow’s travel technology leaders have announced the winners of the global travel market Africa

CAPE TOWN – A program aimed at educating young people on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the future of work and society has announced its first international winners. World Travel Market (WTM) Africa.

Students of Manenberg High School In Cape Town, South Africa, they won top honors for their project that applied AI to the triple bottom line to increase the sustainability of tourism.

Organized by the UK author and keynote speaker Kate KingThis program follows two successful UK teams. The team is the third winner of the program and the first outside England.

Students from Manenberg High School and Horticultural Trade High School participated in educational sessions delivered by various industry experts dedicated to teaching AI. Kathy King served as the program’s moderator and first guest speaker, sharing some insights from her recently published second book, AI for Sales and Marketing Strategy, as well as career perspectives and skills information that will impact the students’ future careers.

This set of programs focuses on the travel industry, and Marketing Executive Simon Sekoi from the Amadeus division highlights trends and perspectives in this space. The students benefited from a session by Proitroom’s Senior Business Development Manager, Michael Puffett. He explained the importance of travel technology business as a sector.
Which to build an interesting career.

After completing their training, the students participated in a competition where they applied AI to real-world problems in the travel industry. Contest entries were judged by Katie King and Lord Tim Clement-Jones, Co-Chair of the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence. The two finalist teams presented their ideas in front of a live audience at the World Travel Market Africa event on April 4 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

The winning team looked at how AI can be applied to enhance three different aspects of sustainability in the tourism industry: economic, ecological and cultural/social. Their project explored each in depth and considered the impact technology could have on improving profits, the planet and people’s lives. Runners have proposed AI-powered humanoid bots that can assist tourists with various tasks, including taking photos and recording videos.

Commenting on the winning project, Lord Clement-Jones said: “I am happy to serve as a judge for the Leaders of Tomorrow program as the ideas of these young students cease to amaze. I was very impressed with all the submitted projects, but the winning project was the most important to me. A well-rounded AI approach is not only about profits, but also about the effects on people and the environment. These youngsters have kept that in mind and come up with amazing and practical apps. I would love to see some of their ideas come to life one day!”

For Cathy King, the completion of this group is the third successful program she has seen during the pandemic to support the next generation and serve a greater purpose in her work. It is the first time that the program is held outside her home country. She says: “It is truly rewarding to be able to run the Leaders of Tomorrow program three times now. In the year When the project started in 2020, I hoped to one day bring it to other schools around the world. To be able to do it here in South Africa is a dream come true, and I am very grateful to the team at World Travel Market Africa for making this possible. I continue to be amazed by the students and their amazing ideas, and these young leaders give me confidence that our future is in great hands. I look forward to bringing this program to more schools and more countries in the future.