SILKROAD JULY 2016

Robot hotels. Instant translation. Personal guides in your pocket. We look at the futuristic advancements that are already here and that will shape how we travel for years to come

T H E F U T U R E O F T R AV E L I S A L R E A DY H E R E

撰文 WORDS CHRISTOPHER DEWOLF

機械人酒店、即時翻譯、便攜式個人指南⋯⋯旅遊的未來時代已經降臨，影響我們將來的旅遊模式，何不趁機探索這些先進發展

未來旅遊著陸

REMEMBER WHEN WE STARTED getting around in flying cars? You don’t? Oh, right – it never happened. The future is hard to predict, but we all find ourselves dreaming about it anyway. One thing is certain: the years ahead will include a lot of travel. More people are travelling than ever before, and the ways in which we travel – for work, for fun or maybe a bit of both – are evolving in fascinating ways. We may still fly in jets, but across the industry, there are exciting developments afoot – ones that could shape the very way we travel in the future. Here are some of today’s travel innovations that may well become the new standard.

還記得我們開始乘坐飛天汽車到處逛的日子嗎？沒有印象？噢，對了⋯⋯因為根本從沒發生

過吧。其實未來即將如何，可謂難以預料，但我

們總是禁不住對未來抱有各種幻想。將來的事，

我們只有一樣能夠肯定，那就是一定會有更多 人遊歷四方。隨著旅客愈來愈多，就連出遊的 方式（不管是為了公幹、玩樂，還是寓工作於娛

樂）也經歷有趣的轉變。雖然我們出行可能還需

依靠飛機，但眾多精采發展正於旅遊業內醞釀，

有機會能為我們未來的出行方式帶來翻天覆地的

改變。以下介紹的現今旅遊業創新發展，或會成

為未來的標準也說不定呢！

SILKROAD JULY 2016

下一個突破應該會是人工智能

驅動的旅遊禮賓服務

The next breakthrough is likely to be travel concierges powered by artificial intelligence

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每位踏進日本長崎Henn-na Hotel酒店（本頁圖片）的旅客，都會由一隻友善的恐龍負責接待，帶領他們辦理入住手續。別以為這只是普通的恐龍而已，它可是一頭機

械恐龍呢！雖然史前動物速龍或者未能在大型國際酒店的前台工作服務客人，但機

械人就不同了。說到底，它們能操幾十種語言，而且更不用休息上洗手間，跟人類

可謂南轅北轍。東芝公司工程師研發的機械人接待員Chihira Kanae就於近期面世，而另一部名為Mario的可愛人型機械人同時於比利時根德市的萬豪酒店投入接待服務，還有部分皇家加勒比國際遊輪的酒保亦經已由調酒機械人所取代呢！

當然，機械人亦需受監督，就算是Henn-na Hotel，還是有人類在幕後工作，監察機器清潔地板和幫助客人處理行李的情況。不過，酒店老闆澤田秀雄表示，他

計劃日後酒店的九成員工皆以機械人來擔任，並希望向全世界推廣這個概念。

When guests check into the Henn-na Hotel (pictured) in Japan’s Nagasaki Prefecture, they are greeted by a friendly dinosaur, who guides them through check-in procedures. Make no mistake, this is no ordinary dinosaur: it’s a robot. And while velociraptors will probably not be staffing the desks of major international hotels, robots very well could.

After all, unlike humans, robots can speak dozens of languages and they don’t need bathroom breaks. Engineers at Toshiba recently unveiled a robot receptionist named Chihira Kanae, while an adorable humanoid robot named Mario serves guests at the Marriott in Ghent, Belgium. Bartenders on some Royal Caribbean cruises have already been replaced by bartender bots.

Of course, robots need to be monitored, and even the Henn-na Hotel has humans working behind the scenes, keeping an eye on the machines that clean the floors and help guests with their luggage. But hotel owner Hideo Sawada says the plan is for robots to eventually run 90 per cent of the property – and he wants to expand the concept around the world.

機械人酒店 ROBOT HOTELS自動操作 Destination automation

When travellers began booking their flights and hotels online, many travel industry experts forecast the death of the travel agent. After all, who would pay someone for something they could so easily do themselves? These days, though, it seems we may be going back to the future. ‘We believe travel is moving to Era 3.0,’ says Eric Gnock Fah (pictured), co-founder of Klook, a Hong Kong-based online travel concierge.

If Era 1.0 was represented by traditional travel agencies that booked journeys in exchange for a fee, and 2.0 heralded the arrival of online booking sites like Zuji and Agoda, Fah thinks the next step will be to offer travellers the chance to curate their own trips with the help of a mobile concierge that, in addition to booking tours and activities, can also give them instant, tailored recommendations on what to do, see, eat and drink.

Klook already operates a mobile booking platform that offers reviews, steep discounts and online booking for everything from surf lessons to live theatre. Demand for Klook’s services has grown ‘25-fold’ over the past year, says Fah, who already has his eyes on rolling out an online concierge service. And that’s not all. ‘To push it further,’ says Fah, ‘the next breakthrough is likely to be travel concierges powered by artificial intelligence.’

當旅客開始自行在網上預訂機票和酒店時，曾經

有不少旅遊業專家預言旅行社將被取替。說到

底，試問誰又會付錢給其他人做自己能輕鬆完成

的事情呢？不過，我們好像又回歸請他人代勞的

潮流。香港旅行代理網站「客路」共同創辦人王

志豪（左圖）表示：「我們相信旅行業正向著3.0的世代前進。」

王志豪認為，要是1.0世代是傳統旅行社為旅客預訂行程收取費用，而2.0則代表Zuji和Agoda等行程預訂網站面世的話，那下一步就是讓旅客在

流動禮賓部的協助下自己設計旅程了。流動禮賓

部不僅能協助旅客預訂各式導賞團和活動，更能

即時提供有關吃喝玩賞的建議。「客路」早已設立

一個流動預約平台，為用戶提供評論、優惠折扣

和網上預約活動功能，由滑浪課程以至劇場表

演，可謂應有盡有。王志豪續指「客路」的服務

需求在過去一年上升達25倍，而下一步計劃則放眼推出網上禮賓服務。並且不會在此止步。他補

充道：「如要更進一步，下一個突破應該會是由

人工智能驅動的旅遊禮賓服務吧。」

網上禮賓部 ONLINE CONCIERGES網上度身訂造行程 Real personalisation direct from the web

創新指數 Innovation rating:

9/10大眾市場潛力 Mass market

potential: 7/10

創新指數 Innovation rating:

6/10大眾市場潛力 Mass market

potential: 8/10

SILKROAD JULY 2016

47FUTURE OF TRAVEL 未來旅遊

旅遊書？太老套吧。導遊行程？太拘束

了。智能電話和平板電腦的興起，讓旅

客得以一邊自由行，一邊在當地掌握如

本地人般的地道知識。這就是城市旅遊

應用程式iDiscover City Walks的賣點，帶領著旅客暢遊香港、澳門、仰光、峇里

和爪哇的迷人社區景致。

Ester van Steekelenburg（右圖）是 iDiscover的創辦人，於荷蘭出生，是城市規劃師及古蹟保育顧問。她說：「實在有

太多我們視而不見的事物了。」每一個

城市指南均備有全球定位地圖及地標相

片，而更重要的是，它還會口述趣聞軼

事及歷史，栩栩如生地介紹每個地標背

後的精采故事。

這個應用程式就如一位知識廣博

的朋友，帶領大家認識新地方的每個角

落，即使是一個大家自以為很熟悉的地

區，其實也有不少令你驚喜之處。van Steekelenburg寄望道：「我們只是希望大家能抱持探索精神。」

Paper guidebooks? That’s so last century. Guided tours? How restrictive. The rise of smartphones and tablets means it is now possible for you to guide yourself around a city while still enjoying the knowledge of a local expert. That’s the idea behind iDiscover City Walks, an urban exploration app that guides you around fascinating neighbourhoods in Hong Kong, Macau, Yangon, Bali and Java.

‘There’s so much you don’t register with the eye,’ says iDiscover founder Ester van Steekelenburg (pictured), a Dutch-born urban planner and heritage conservation consultant. Each neighbourhood guide includes a GPS-enabled map, photos of local landmarks and, most importantly, the stories behind them, with colourful anecdotes and nuggets of oral history.

It’s like having a very knowledgeable friend to show you around an unfamiliar place – and even if it is a neighbourhood you think you know well, there are sure to be some surprises along the way. Says van Steekelenburg: ‘We just want people to explore.’

自導自遊 SELFGUIDED TOURS自由資訊 Freedom of information

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假如要數Andreas Stalder一件討厭的事情，那就是入住酒店後不懂得使用客房燈光開關。他說：「假 如房間內有一個繁複的控制屏，按下去後卻什麼都

沒有發生的話，那我寧願要一個簡單的燈光開關掣

就好了。」幸好憑藉他的身分要解決這種問題可謂

輕而易舉。身為凱悅酒店國際集團的亞太區產品開

發高級副總裁，Stalder目前正為柏悅及安達仕等旗下酒店品牌開發新一代客房。在這個客房愈趨高科

技的時代，Stalder卻反其道而行，標榜簡單實用為主。他表示：「無論是今日或未來的客房，都必須

實際及方便。如果我只在客房待上一、兩天的話，

我可不想花時間了解設施的使用方式，其用法應該

更直接才行。」

換言之，客房著重的應是簡約實用的控制，而

非令人摸不著頭腦的平板應用程式或觸碰式熒幕。

這亦代表酒店應該迎合旅客使用客房的習慣，而非

強逼他們適應房間設備。

其中一個由Stalder推行的全新客房變革，將於下年在全新的馬尼拉凱悅酒店面世。這一間極致舒

適的雙人房，不但設有兩間浴室，而且更於兩張床

之間放置屏風，確保足夠私人空間。此外它還備有

簡化的儲物櫃，以及可供兩人使用的大書桌。他表

示這間客房專為一家人、朋友，以及因公幹而需合

住同一間客房的人士而設。

If there’s one thing Andreas Stalder hates, it’s when he checks into a hotel and can’t figure out how to turn the lights on. ‘When there’s a panel with all these controls, and you press and nothing happens – I’d rather have a light switch. On and off.’

Luckily for Stalder, he’s in a situation to do something about it. As the senior vice president for product development at Hyatt International’s Asia-Pacific division, Stalder is developing the next generation of hotel rooms for brands like Park Hyatt and Andaz. At a time when hotels seem to be getting increasingly techy, Stalder advocates the opposite approach. ‘Rooms today and tomorrow need to be practical and functional,’ he says. ‘If I spend one or two days in a room, I don’t want to figure out how to use it. It needs to be intuitive.’

That means an emphasis on tactile room controls rather than confusing tablet apps and touchscreens. It also means a renewed focus on adapting to how guests use their rooms, rather than forcing them to adapt to the room.

One of Stalder’s innovations, which will debut next year in the new Grand Hyatt Manila, is a twin room designed for ultimate comfort, with two bathrooms, privacy screens between beds, streamlined storage and a desk big enough for two people. He says it is designed to provide more flexibility for families, friends and people who need to share rooms on business trips.

靈活直接的酒店設備

FLEXIBLE, INTUITIVE HOTELS深知你心的客房 Your room knows what you want

實在有太多我們

視而不見的事物了

There’s so much that travellers don’t register with the eye

創新指數 Innovation rating:

5/10大眾市場潛力 Mass market

potential: 8/10

創新指數 Innovation rating:

5/10大眾市場潛力 Mass market

potential: 9/10

SILKROAD JULY 2016

聖塞巴斯蒂安 SAN SEBASTIAN48

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More people are flying than ever before and global demand for air travel is rising fast, with air traffic growing by 6.5 per cent last year alone, according to the International Air Travel Association. Airports around the world are adapting by streamlining procedures with new biometric security systems, self check-in and enhanced navigation systems, spending more than US$7 billion on IT improvements last year.

But the biggest change won’t have to do with more efficient security screening or baggage handling. It will be the transformation of airports into places where you actually want to spend time. ‘The best example of improving an airport that we have seen is less about efficiency and more about poetry,’ travel analyst Peter Firth told the BBC last year.

Designer Lionel Ohayon calls it the ‘airport as a city’ approach – and like a great city, a great airport needs more places to linger, wander and be entertained. Singapore’s Changi Airport is already ahead of the trend, with a free swimming pool, cinema and butterfly garden, but it isn’t resting on its laurels. A new pavilion called Jewel is slated to open in 2018, with a five-storey glass atrium containing restaurants, a hotel, a garden and a 40-metre indoor waterfall – the world’s tallest.

愈來愈多人乘搭飛機出遊，令全球空中交通的需求迅

速上升。根據國際航空運輸協會的數據，空中交通單

是去年已上升6.5%。為應付這個情況，全球各地的機場都開始採用先進的生物識別安檢技術及自助登機服

務，並且提升導航系統，致力精簡登機程序。去年，

各國就已投放逾70億美元來為資訊科技系統升級。不過，機場最大的改變並不在於提升安檢程序

和處理行李的效率，反而是轉型成為旅客願意久留

的地方。旅遊業分析師Peter Firth去年向英國國家廣播公司表示：「在提升機場方面，最成功的例子是

將對效率的關注，轉為更加著重空間的美感。」

設計師Lionel Ohayon將之形容為「機場等於城市」方案，即出色的機場應如動人的城市一樣，需

要更多讓人流連、閒逛和消遣的景點。新加坡樟宜

機場在這方面可以說是傲視同群。機場不僅設有免

費游泳池、戲院及蝴蝶園外，還準備更進一步，於

2018年開放全新的Jewel樟宜機場。這個樓高五層的玻璃中庭將設有多間餐廳、一間酒店、一個花園以

及全球最高的40米室內瀑布，令人拭目而待。

There’s a reason why everyone on Star Trek seems to speak English. By the 23rd century, according to the show’s lore, humanity has perfected the technology of flawless, instantaneous translation. That future could come a lot sooner than we might expect, if recent advances are anything to go by – but don’t pack away the phrase book just yet.

Earlier this year, Google expanded its Translate service to include instantaneous translation of traditional Chinese characters and a host of other languages, allowing you to read a foreign menu simply by hovering your phone over it. Of course, doing that reveals just how far is left to go: real-time text translation still produces a large number of incomprehensible phrases and oddly chosen words. Those will be corrected over time, though, thanks to user feedback and machine learning.

The next frontier is real-time audio translation. New York-based Waverly Labs has developed the Pilot, a new earpiece that syncs with a smartphone app to make whatever foreign language you hear instantly understandable. The device is geared towards professional situations, so it’s unlikely the greengrocer you meet on your next trip to Japan will be wearing it any time soon. But it could well be the first bold step into a place where no human has gone before.

在電影《星空奇遇記》中，每一位角色都能操流利英語，其實並非無緣無故的設定。

根據該電影的世界觀，人類在23世紀前便已研發出完美的即時傳譯科技，而宏觀最近的科技發展，電影所描繪的未來可能比我們想像中更快降臨，不過大家還是先別急著

收起那本旅行用語指南。

本年初，Google將翻譯服務擴展至繁體中文等多種語言的即時傳譯服務。旅客只需將電話移置菜單上方後，就能夠讀懂這些外語了。當然，這方法同時也顯示了這種科

技尚待改善的地方。經即時翻譯的文本仍然充斥大量無法理解的短句和奇怪用字，不

過，透過用戶意見和電腦自行學習，假以時日，這問題將可以得到改善。

下一步就是即時語音傳譯了。位於紐約的Waverly Labs公司剛研發出全新傳譯耳機Pilot，可與智能手機應用程式同步，為佩戴者即時傳譯各國外語。Pilot現時主要為公幹場合而設，因此大家下一次到訪日本時，應該無緣遇到佩戴這款耳機的菜販，

話雖如此，它仍是人類勇於開創全新領域的第一步。

即時翻譯 INSTANT TRANSLATION永別了，語言不通 Language barrier begone

創新指數 Innovation rating:

9/10大眾市場潛力 Mass market

potential: 10/10

49FUTURE OF TRAVEL 未來旅遊

創新指數 Innovation rating:

6/10大眾市場潛力 Mass market

potential: 7/10

令人興奮的機場 EXCITING AIRPORTS中途轉機能否成為閣下的旅程亮點呢？ Could transits become the new highlight of your trip?