Flow Vision. This name may not mean anything to you, but as far as the Normandy tourist office is concerned, we are well aware of the Orange AI which partners with Mont-Saint-Michel to control the influx of tourists.
Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, Mont-Saint-Michel and its bay, nicknamed the “Wonder of the West”, welcome more than three million visitors each year, thus rising to second place among the the most popular tourist destinations in France. In 2023, in high season (from May to September), Germans, English and Americans visited it the most, i.e. a proportion of 61% foreigners, and 31% French. Out of season, 80% of French people wander the narrow, cobbled streets of the monument. These precise statistics owe nothing to chance and prove to be more useful than one might believe. An AI is at the origin and it will even help Thomas Velter, current general director of the public establishment of Mont-Saint-Michel, to contain this incessant flow of tourists.
How it works ?
The Flux Vision service, developed by Orange, is based on the following principle: each time a tourist passes by an antenna, their SIM card is recognized. This data is then anonymized and processed by algorithms, which make it possible to know the origin of the people, the duration of their visit, if they sleep there, or even their socio-professional category.
“It allows you to do fairly standard things, to get to know tourists better, to work on the type of documentation we provide, recommendations for visits and to regulate flows”, indicates Marc Maouche, regional delegate of Orange in Normandy. And don’t panic for reluctant tourists. This data is anonymized and complies with the recommendations of the CNIL and the GDPR.
Mont-Saint-Michel is not the only one to use the Flux Vision service, which already has a thousand customers in France, including many tourist offices.
What are the benefits?
Thanks to this information, the public establishment of Mont-Saint-Michel can adapt its offer and its reception to the needs of tourists. For example, it can send them SMS to advise them to come at a less busy time, offer them documents adapted to their language or their profile, or even regulate flows according to weather conditions or events.
As Thomas Velter, general director of the public establishment Mont-Saint-Michel, indicates, “ It’s still being studied, but maybe tomorrow we can send an SMS to visitors in the area to tell them to come or stop by a little later.”.
But by going into detail, AI also makes it possible to target the location’s clientele more precisely, by adapting its communication.
“We organized a show on June 23 and 72% of the spectators came from the Manche department, which validates our strategy of bringing in local tourists. […] Rather than displaying advertisements in the large cities of the West, it may be interesting to communicate in the medium-sized rural towns of the Channel”he explains.
Source: Le Figaro
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