Hilton Announces Character Representing New Customer Service Chatbot

Hilton announced the winners of a recent competition to design a cartoon character to represent its newly launched AI customer service chatbot.

Change Chen from DoubleTree by Hilton Shiyan took the top prize, while Issa Li from Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund and Vicky Li from Hilton Chengdu took second and third place, respectively.

The competition was open to all guests and Hilton employees, and the design will be used to breathe life into “Xiao Xi,” Hilton’s first AI customer service chatbot. The service provides Hilton Honors members and guests with a convenient source for travel advisory services.

“Digital innovation serves as one of our five key strategies in China,” Hilton Greater China & Mongolia Senior Vice President Wendy Huang said. “Being the first global hospitality company to introduce an AI customer service chatbot to China is a clear sign that we are committed to our guests and the market.”

“In the post-pandemic era, guests increasingly rely on online services and resources to choose travel destinations and products so that they can have better offline experiences,” Huang continued. “Consumers are more inclined to trust authoritative information from enterprise-owned digital platforms, and Xiao Xi has been given life at this time to address such demands while providing our guests with a smooth online experience while traveling.”

Users can ask Xiao Xi travel-related questions—such as hotel information, local weather, promotion details and more—and offers travelers advice, suggestions and tips throughout their journeys.

Since it was launch in February, Xiao Xi has replied to more than 50,000 customer inquiries, with a 94 percent customer satisfaction rating. It is unclear when and if the service would be available at properties in the United States.