The tourism industry is now on a gradual road to recovery. And in a bid to boost tourism Kerala has launched a virtual travel assistant on WhatsApp for tourist facilitation and flow of information.  

The virtual assistant &mdash Maya &mdash is a chat bot that will provide information to travellers about the latest updates on destinations, facilities, prerequisites etc. The assistant has been launched as a part of using technology for traveller facilitation and will aid all travellers seeking any sort of information and assistance in the form of text or voice messages. 

With covid restrictions being lifted across the country, the travel and tourism sector is looking at recovery and will hopefully be back on its feet. And in order to give this much needed boost, various governments have come up with strategies. According to reports, this one of a kind WhatsApp Chatbot was recently launched officially by the Tourism Minister, PA Mohamed Riyas. The minister stated that the purpose of the bot is for travellers to get complete information they need and enable a hassle-free travel experience for them in the state. 

In order to avail the services of this bot, travellers only have to send a &lsquoHi&rsquo to the WhatsApp no 7510512345 or by simply scanning a QR code and then scroll through the menu and deice the sub category they want the information on. Maya is fully equipped to share all information on destinations, experiences, stay options as well as travelling through the state. The bot can also share information regarding ecotourism, arts and culture hotspots, not-to-miss places covid protocols, visa information, weather updates as well as links to the official social media pages of the state.