Something like this was always inevitable. South African Tourism, in conjunction with a company called GuideGeek, has launched Siyanda, a tourist-specific AI that will “[provide] instant answers to any travel or tourism related questions about the country.”

It’s hardly the first upgrade for the upcoming tourist season, but it’s easily the most buzzwordy. GuideGeek, which specialises in travel AI, reckons that Siyanda will “support travelers seeking authentic, vibrant, and joy-filled journeys across South Africa.” Specifically, North American travellers, but there’s no reason why you couldn’t use it yourself. Who knows? You might learn something about South Africa.

Ask Siyanda?

As for what it can do, the AI is all about getting around to some of South Africa’s best locations. Siyanda will, via prompts, “plan a full itinerary or answer specific questions about safaris, hiking trails, local restaurants, historical landmarks and more.” How accurate it is remains to be seen, but its creators reckon that it was trained on data from South African Tourism which, no matter what you think about the rest of the country’s governance, doesn’t muck around with its mission.

Chief operating officer for SA Tourism, Darryl Eurasmus, explains, “The name Siyanda is from Xhosa, one of South Africa’s 11 official languages, and means ‘We are growing. We are increasing’.” The launch with GuideGeek is an African first, with related services already launched in Greece, New Zealand, and other locations. American tourists are the main audience for Siyanda, but local travel agents are also in the service’s sights. If you’re looking to do some off-track travel of your own, that’s probably fine too.

The travel assistant appears on the South African Tourism website at the moment — look for the little green icon on the bottom right — and it certainly seems eager to guide travellers around SA. We’ll likely see, partway into the festive season, just how effective it is at showing visitors a good time.