Towards A Software Factory for Developing the Chatbots in Smart Tourism Mobile Applications

Abstract

Today, the tourism industry is significantly impacted by mobile applications leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to enhance tourists' experiences before, during, and after their visits. This technological convergence has given rise to Smart Tourism Destinations (STDs). However, efficiently integrating these functionalities into mobile apps poses a major challenge, leading to the emergence of chatbots. Companies like IBM, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offer tools such as Watson, Bot Framework, Dialogflow, and Amazon Lex for their development. Nevertheless, creating chatbots remains intricate, demanding expertise in software development and AI, along with associated costs related to NLP service providers. Additionally, employing an appropriate modeling language is crucial for designing a chatbot. At this juncture, the concepts of software factories and Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs) become indispensable. These innovative approaches provide solutions for addressing these complex challenges. Software factories automate the development process, expediting chatbot creation while ensuring consistency. Simultaneously, DSLs furnish tools for accurately modeling and articulating the specific requirements of smart tourism, simplifying the development of tailor-made chatbots suited to this domain. This article introduces a model-driven approach for a DSL aimed at offering an abstract, high-level representation of the various aspects of chatbots within the context of an intelligent tourism mobile application.