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STB, OpenAI ink MOU to drive advanced AI adoption across tourism sector

STB, OpenAI ink MOU to drive advanced AI adoption across tourism sector

Business Times23-07-2025
[SINGAPORE] The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has inked a memorandum of understanding with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI to drive the adoption of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) across the city-state's tourism sector.
Going beyond traditional AI systems, advanced AI can perform complex cognitive tasks and generate human-like responses – by using machine learning generative capabilities to do things like understand natural language, analyse data at scale and create personalised, context-dependent solutions.
The collaboration will prepare STB and Singapore's tourism sector for an AI-driven future and lay the groundwork for the sector to benefit from the latest AI advancements, the board said on Wednesday (Jul 23).
This is in line with STB's Tourism 2040 roadmap – which focuses on ensuring Singapore's tourism sector is future-ready – as it will prepare the sector for evolving technological advancements and lay the foundation for transformative changes in the travel industry.
Jordan Tan, STB chief technology officer, said: 'We see tremendous potential in this collaboration with OpenAI to drive innovation and agility in the tourism sector. By leveraging OpenAI's capabilities, we envision AI as a key enabler in addressing productivity challenges and accelerating digital transformation across the sector.'
Speaking on the partnership, Oliver Jay, managing director of international at OpenAI, said the company would support STB in integrating its technology across multiple applications.
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Improving visitor experience
Under the tie-up, STB will adopt OpenAI's technology and explore potential use cases where advanced tools and robotics can be incorporated into tourism.
STB will evaluate the impact of such use cases, explore their scalability and potentially launch trials with relevant sector partners.
The board will use OpenAI's capabilities to enhance visitor experiences through greater personalisation and engagement, as well as to improve organisational and industry productivity.
This could range from working with tourism businesses to provide tailored recommendations and multilingual assistance, to delivering immersive storytelling initiatives that create memorable experiences, the STB said.
'These initiatives will ultimately encourage repeat visits and (serve as) advocacy for Singapore,' the STB said.
Moreover, the use of advanced AI will help deepen insights, to refine destination marketing and product strategies in order to support industry stakeholders in creating responsive services, the board added.
OpenAI was co-founded in 2015 by a group including CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk, the world's richest person. Musk has since left the firm due to disagreements with its direction.
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