Meet the New Face of German Tourism: an AI Travel Influencer

Despegar and Kayak both released travel planning and booking tools this week meant to integrate generative AI more comprehensively. While it’s still early days, the concept is promising. People who become travel managers may not be trained in marketing skills for communicating a company’s travel policy in ways that encourage workers to understand and comply. Content created with the help of Gen AI could solve that challenge and offer the opportunity for instant language translation at corporations that span many countries.

You could use the app as you are

traveling to book flights, to find places to visit – the agent can help you do

a lot of this and make the bookings automatically. Anthropic recently released three demonstrations of the tech, one of which was for making travel plans. A more advanced version of the tech could eliminate the friction of manually navigating options, comparing prices and making reservations. In addition, Dawes notes users might bypass online travel agencies like Booking.com to rely on AI to find the best deals on their behalf. AI can even take it a step further to help tailor itineraries based on personal preferences and time limits.

Sofia has also been boosted with greater knowledge of Despegar’s products and services, such as its loyalty program and payment options. The company also has plans to integrate Sofia into its B2B platforms. Today’s podcast looks at AI travel agents, Hilton’s highest room addition, and Boeing’s latest hurdle.

People only buy a new mobile phone every two to five years. So even once “new-generation” smartphones are on the market with integrated AI voice technology across the board, we’ll still be looking at another two to five years before this tech becomes the mainstream in mobile. Concur founder and Madrona managing director Steve Singh acquired Direct Travel in April. Using artificial intelligence, Otto wants to create a travel assistant to plan, book and support business travelers during a trip. We’ve shipped features that utilize content analysis and summarization in our hotels funnel. We’ve also shipped out some interesting features employing voice in regional Indian languages that effectively assist the end users while they’re in our product flows.

Let’s end on the AI piece, which, you’ve mentioned several times, is an investment that every company is making. The idea that I have a problem when I travel, and I can just speak in natural language to an assistant that will help me solve that problem, is very powerful. Do you think the AI systems we have today can actually do the things we want them to do? Because that seems like the most open question of all. Yeah, but it’s not… that doesn’t come up much at all. And yes, really what I want to do more of — and we’ve done some, but I want to do even more — is the cross-fertilization of people, having people move from one of the companies to the other ones.

When should you use AI to plan a trip?

(The) hospitality industry is particularly known for it in a lot of countries. (In) Caribbean countries, for example, tourism is the largest, percent of their (gross domestic product). If travelers like the itinerary, they can click a single button to be directed to a booking site to finalize their purchase. Elemental Cognition applied its AI platform, built on Google Cloud infrastructure, to produce a robust booking system for Oneworld—one that handles airline schedules’ complexity and is approachable for travelers. Expedia started experimenting with AI last year when it introduced an in-app travel planning experience that used ChatGPT.

It’s been available for some time now, but existing versions seem almost primitive compared to what GenAI is capable of creating. Established companies like Kayak and Expedia have been experimenting with online itinerary planning for some time, and new products and features are being added on a near-daily basis. Generative AI is the latest major innovative force, and it can’t be ignored.

Madrona Ventures led the round, with support from Direct Travel and a star lineup of travel industry veterans. Does that hotel with a legendary reputation still offer a truly great experience? You’ll never know before you book if you’re relying only on chatbots and past reviews. We are going ChatGPT to start with flights, but it’s definitely

possible we can go do this for hotels, for cars and stuff like that, so it can definitely

expand. But we see flights are the major pain point right now. “It would definitely be better to promote real-life people who exist and can form real opinions!

Evangelina Petrakis, 21, was in high school when she posted on social media for fun — then realized a business opportunity. Finally, you need to understand that AI won’t replace travel planners; it will amplify their magic. By handling routine tasks, AI frees up travel planners to focus on the heart and soul of their work, which is to create unforgettable experiences and build meaningful relationships with clients.

What Is Otto?

AI technology can use its analysis to forecast and predict behaviors based on historical data and current trends. For travelers, AI can predict future prices for flights and hotels, which can help users find the best deals based on its predictions. Travel booking companies can use predictive AI to inform travelers about the best time to book a hotel or buy a flight to a certain location. Predictive technology can also help forecast flight operations based on weather patterns and historical flight data. These combined solutions aim to reduce costs for large agencies by up to 50% while maintaining or enhancing customer service standards. While the travel agent on the screen looked and sounded like a video game character, it asked and answered travel booking questions with a near-human speed.

• We also need tighter integration across booking, payment, and authentication systems.
• The company specializes in selling admission to museums and attractions with unique twists like exclusive early morning or late night entries.
• (In) luxury travel, they’ve rebranded agents to advisors and so on.
• But one of the things we’ll have to do is, we’ll have to continue to give more benefit to our customers so they still have a reason to book with us, and now, of course, we can match the price.
• The Internet of Things (IoT) and social networking platforms provide real-time updates and enhanced communication for travelers.

Expedia is also introducing smart search on its site, which lets users describe what kind of hotels they want instead of selecting filters. For instance, you can type “Rooftop and view of the sea” while searching for hotels, and the search will return the best hotels with those features. Al is a game changer for search; that much is already certain. We believe the process of search and selection will evolve from a structured and fixed approach to a more flexible one where users can input free-form text to find precisely what they’re looking for.

Moreover, the industry is embracing automation and robotics to optimize baggage handling and reduce delays. As technology advances, hyper-personalization will become the norm, tailoring every aspect of the travel experience to individual preferences and needs. Expedia’s former SVP of consumer product, Michael Gulmann, is betting on AI to bridge the gap.

GenAI represents the ultimate opportunity for travel professionals

Otto plans to launch a beta version in December and is working to refine its technology over the next few months. Using

GPT-4 Turbo, the Priceline iOS app can now create detailed itineraries that can

include activities, restaurants and nearby attractions. Other updates include a

new “Priceline Wallet” that customers can use to save coupons, track airline

credits, etc. and “Price Watch” to track flights and receive notifications when

fares change.

Crean, along with Eric Blachford, former CEO of Expedia, IAC Travel, and Couchsurfing, and Barney Harford, former CEO of Orbitz and COO of Uber, are all investing in this round as angels and will be valued advisers. Otto is a self-learning AI that learns to anticipate your requests. Otto can uniquely integrate into your calendar and learn preferences from prior trips.

Liu said this was a valuable lesson learnt during the pandemic. “Over time, we were making the system more and more flexible, and making it more and more standardized. So today we are able to use this, what we call, things to do template, to basically have the customers book anything as a trial. How do you design such a complex product as travel in that fraction of time? “We need to make it as easy as possible, as intuitive as possible, for customers.

Contact me here.I founded ETA, a global advisory firm to help startups, governments, and corporations accelerate emerging technology innovation. Otto has raised $6 million in a seed round led by Madrona Ventures, with participation from Direct Travel. Angel investors in the round include former C-suite executives from services including Expedia, Ortbiz, Uber and Farecast. AI Sunny is in addition to an AI-powered search tool, called AI Mode, which Skift tested after it was released last year. Cruise Planners, No. 22 on Travel Weekly’s Power List, introduced an AI tool for advisors that has been trained on the franchisor’s programs and tools as well as on destinations, suppliers and itineraries.

We started a pilot with TripAdvisor a few weeks ago, but Viator is not part of this pilot. Tiqets’ assortment has relatively more museums and attractions to offer while Viator has relatively more tours and activities. Museums and attractions score higher on ‘cultural and historic’ experiences than tours and activities. Kayak is a metasearch site owned by Booking Holdings, meaning it compiles options from various booking sites, allowing users to compare rates and navigate to a third-party site for bookings. The industry is getting closer to the vision of the comprehensive digital travel agent, but it’s still far away. The focus is on the “unmanaged” sector of business travel — individuals, maybe small business employees, that don’t work with a contracted travel agency, Gulmann said.

You can foun additiona information about ai customer service and artificial intelligence and NLP. We won’t have to increase the number of CS agents at the same rate because the simpler cases will be handled by these AI customer agents. And at some point, gradually, gradually, gradually, it’ll get better and better, and we’ll have to need fewer and fewer, and it’ll be something that I think will be better for the customer. Because I don’t know anybody who ever enjoyed waiting on hold to speak to someone to fix the problem.

Like ASTA, Fora Travel sees the online travel agency approach as lacking. “By the time I started booking my own flights (around 2008) it’s always felt more convenient (and fun!) to book my flight, lodging, and activities (like restaurants, show tickets, excursions) on my own,” Blanchet said. We asked a few Skift staffers who are Gen Zers or millennials whether they had used a traditional travel agent to plan recent trips, and got a mixed response. I don’t think many customers won’t be in touch with us in some form, either online or with our street agents.

But you can now have this agent and it’s kind of like

your concierge service – you say do this for me and then you don’t have to

worry about anything. During an earnings call, he spoke about AI and its “unparalleled opportunities to inspire new journeys, enhance user experiences and boost operational efficiency.”Liang highlighted the company’s curated lists, unveiled earlier this year. Trip.Best provides users with lists of the top hotels, attractions, restaurants and night life in destinations. Meanwhile, Trip.Deals finds the best deals on flights and accommodation. TripGenie is one of the many ways AI has been implemented in the business to enhance productivity across all functions, such as marketing, operations, engineering and customer service. Implementing TripGenie has allowed us to comprehend users’ requests through the LUI (language user interface), utilizing the power of natural language understanding to grasp customer journeys in real-time.

• Despegar and Kayak both released travel planning and booking tools this week meant to integrate generative AI more comprehensively.
• The tech is here to stay, and will deliver on all promises – mostly within this decade, as I see it.
• And that, in the end, we won’t then get the commission because they booked it with you, et cetera.
• Success in this AI gold rush demands diving in early, addressing obstacles, and continuously pushing boundaries.
• They also struggle with last-minute travel disruptions due to limited breadth of real-time data.
• That doesn’t make a lot of sense, when you think about it.

While the next decade promises revolutionary changes driven by generative AI, I’m thrilled to say we’re witnessing transformative impacts today. The debut of ChatGPT ignited global excitement — and yes, some overblown hype. But forward-thinking companies tackling AI’s challenges head-on are already reaping remarkable rewards. So while AI is making strides in hospitality, its transformative potential will only be realized once the industry moves beyond departmental silos and adopts platforms capable of integrating data across the entire hotel ecosystem. This holistic approach is essential to achieving the sweeping changes the industry has been waiting for. Running a successful hotel involves many interconnected systems, and optimizing just one area while leaving others untouched still results in inefficiencies.

Additionally, robust data security and privacy protocols are paramount to build trust with consumers. As AI continues to evolve, it’s essential to mitigate risks like hallucinations and ensure that AI systems align with ethical guidelines. Companies that address this delicate balance, offering reliable, personalized, and secure travel experiences, will be the ones who shape the industry and benefit from it. If we’re lucky traveling will get a little less complicated and a little more fun again. Now, most companies say that, and everybody goes by that old saying that “in God, we trust; everybody else, bring data.” But we really live it.

” and it requires a lot of humans to do it as opposed to the AI. The one other thing, though — what would be really bad for us — is if you price below the price you give to us. What’ll happen is people will use us to figure out which hotel they want, and then they’ll just click over to you and get a cheaper price.

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg acknowledged the planemaker is at a crossroads, adding that trust in the company has eroded. Ortberg said he believes the company’s issues, including lapses in its performance, have disappointed many of its customers. He told staff earlier this month that Boeing would delay the first deliveries of the 777X to 2026. Alison Roller is a freelance writer with experience in tech, HR and marketing. Data analysis is one of the greatest appeals of AI in travel and other industries.

Amex GBT is acquiring CWT for $570 million, although regulatory scrutiny has delayed the merger. The company is focusing on integrating advanced software solutions, AI-driven automation, and sustainability tools to maintain its competitive edge and meet evolving market demands. We are thinking of partnering with a company like Stripe, so we can have a wallet specifically for the agent where you can put some money.

Everyone’s still making money, and the consumers are happier. Everybody would like customers to come to them directly and at no cost. Distribution’s a very important part about how you sell stuff, but the desire to sell directly has always been there and always will be there.

On Instagram, some interpreted the launch of Emma as Germany replacing human content creators. The German National Tourist Board envisions Emma as a key representative for Germany in the tourism industry. Tourists looking to explore Germany can expect a helping hand from the country’s first AI-generated travel influencer, which the German National Tourist Board debuted on Thursday. Hilton reported a record for room growth during the third quarter. But the company trimmed its annual room revenue forecast amid signs of softening domestic travel demand, writes Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill.

I can’t wait to see what the future holds for Otto and the incredible team behind it. Stay tuned and sign up for the Otto waitlist at OttoTheAgent. Not only does Otto leverage Spotnana (as you would expect), but in the coming quarters, Otto will leverage open platforms chatbot for travel agency such as Direct Travel, Center, and Troop – other modern travel platforms Madrona is honored to partner with. Recently, the Transportation Security Administration began using AI for facial recognition and ID verification in airports across the United States.

Aziz said this was her first experience using a travel agent. There has been a resurgence in the use of travel agents since the pandemic – and even before – especially for luxury trips. Big Bus Tours is using Freshworks technology to handle a growing volume of customer service requests. Expedia’s research suggests travelers view 141 pages of travel content ChatGPT App in the 45 days before booking a trip, she says. AI can suggest local activities and popular destinations in a few seconds in many different languages, generating rapid results that humans can’t. AI can also handle some customer-service functions at hotels in just a fraction of the time a person would, according to Tim Hentschel, CEO of HotelPlanner.com.

Travel booking platforms like Expedia, Kayak, and HomeToGo are advancing in their use of AI tools to enhance user experience, from planning and booking to customer service. Expedia has introduced Romie, an AI-powered travel assistant, and updated its app with itinerary builders and AI-generated review summaries. HomeToGo is developing ‘Super AI Sunny’ to assist with search and booking, and Kayak has launched ‘Ask Kayak’ to streamline travel planning. Despite these advancements, Skift’s tests indicate that these tools still have room for improvement. The article discusses the impact of AI on the travel industry, highlighting the initial hype and subsequent reality.

From established online travel agencies to the latest travel startups, we have the latest news on everything in online travel. Despite the barriers, 41% of respondents said they already have budgets in place to implement the technology. In addition, 46% cited it as a “top priority” for internal use in the coming year ahead of other technologies including data management and cloud architecture. This new tech shows an early version of how an AI-powered travel agent could look. Anthropic is the company behind the generative AI search engine Claude and it released three demonstrations of the tech on Tuesday. One of them was for making travel plans — a common demo that competitors OpenAI and Google have also leaned on when showing how their AI works.

The only places where we would have trouble filling your travel needs would be places that we’re not allowed to operate because of either US or EU Law. Much like with the internet, mobile phones and social media, change seems to be happening slowly for a while and then it appears to happen all at once. Fundamental change will indeed take many years, as humans learn to adapt.