Guardforce AI Co., Limited (“Guardforce AI” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ:GFAI, GFAIW), an integrated security solutions provider, announced today that it has entered into a partnership agreement with Riversoft Inc. (“Riversoft”), a Peakwork Company who is specialized in travel management software, to co-develop and co-launch contactless travel services with its existing GFAI’s Concierge robots. Guardforce AI and Riversoft plan to co-develop these contactless travel services in a new robotic solution to be known as Robot Travel Agency (“RTA”).
The RTA will be an e-commerce portal where travelers can purchase itineraries, transportation, accommodations, tours and more. The RTA platform will be linked to Riversoft’s’ booking engine which connects to major travel suppliers for hotel booking, flight booking, ticketing, and travel agencies. RTA’s platform can bundle travel packages and recommend the best local deals possible to travelers. RTA’s platform can also be linked to social media and instant messaging applications such as Line and WeChat, to provide seamless payment and instant recommendations to customers’ smartphones.
Olivia Wang, Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of Guardforce AI, stated, “We are excited about our partnership with Riversoft and our joint plans to launch the RTA. According to the Global Business Travel Association’s latest Business Travel Index, global business travel activity will continue to recover in 2023 and is headed towards a full recovery to 2019 pre-pandemic spending levels of USD $1.4 trillion. Our strategic objective of the RTA is to launch in the hospitality industry to help travelers find exclusive local promotions for restaurants, events, and stores. The hotel industry is one of our important and major markets for our robotic solutions and we are working with Riversoft to further expands our services, enabling us to provide more efficient, and convenient experiences to our customers and clients.”
Alex Kuo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Riversoft, commented, “Tourism is continuing to recover, and according to the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, international tourism saw a 182% year-over-year increase in January-March 2022. As travel restrictions continue to ease and as the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, the tourism industry is expected to continue to recuperate throughout 2022. However, the hotel industry is still struggling to hire enough staff to serve customers. We believe our RTA contactless solution effectively provides a safe and easy to use concierge service that will serve customers as they travel to new destinations around the world.”