FORT LAUDERDALE, FL (19 July, 2018)—The International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association has teamed up with the Paris- based startup company Hopstay to develop an LGBTQ+ travel chatbot to assist travelers in planning their trips. The chatbot, which resides within Facebook Messenger, is available on desktop, tablet and mobile and shares LGBTQ-welcoming travel opportunities, including recommendations for destinations, travel agents, hotels, transport, tours, events and special offers in more than 80 countries.
IGLTA members also will benefit from this additional mobile channel that will drive on-the-go LGBTQ+ travelers to their offerings, products and services, which are all housed on the IGLTA website. The chatbot is just one step in a major effort IGLTA is making to assist travelers in finding LGBTQ-welcoming opportunities through new online resources and enhanced content.
“We realize that travelers are tech savvy and rely more and more on social media and mobile devices when planning and looking for inspiration for their next trip,” said John Tanzella, IGLTA President/CEO. “Our LGBTQ+ travel chatbot not only provides insight for travelers who know where they want to go, but also provides inspiration and recommendations for those who aren’t quite sure where to go next. The Inspire Me feature can even suggest LGBTQ-welcoming tours, events and special offers around the world that a traveler may not have previously found in their research.”
“As supporters of the LGBTQ+ community and LGBTQ- welcoming travel, we are proud to work with IGLTA on their travel chatbot,” said Lucas Lovell, Managing Director of Hopstay. “As consumer trends change, it’s important for travel organizations to evolve and ensure their content is distributed in a way that meets user expectations. The IGLTA chatbot serves the traveler in a multitude of ways, from finding out more about LGBTQ-welcoming destinations to all the latest events on the LGBTQ+ calendar, directly from their mobile device on a platform they’re using every day.”
For more information and to see the IGLTA Travel Chatbot live, go to:
https://www.messenger.com/t/IGLTA or iglta.org.
About IGLTA: The International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association is the leading member-based global organization dedicated to LGBTQ+ tourism and a proud Affiliate Member of the United Nations World Tourism Organization. IGLTA’s mission is to provide information and resources for LGBTQ+ travelers and advance LGBTQ+ tourism globally by demonstrating its significant social and economic impact. IGLTA membership includes LGBTQ+ and LGBTQ- friendly accommodations, destinations, service providers, travel agents, tour operators, events and travel media in more than 80 countries. For more information: iglta.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @iglta.
About Hopstay: Hopstay is an Australian-founded startup that develops content-based chatbots for destinations & travel companies. Their clients include destination marketing organisations & travel companies seeking to integrate destination content into their customer experience. The team is currently based at the Paris&Co Welcome City Lab tourism technology incubator in central Paris after winning the French Tech Ticket in 2017. For more information visit www.hopstay.co or contact Lucas at lucas@hopstay.co.