tech
Holiday industry prepares for the agentic travel agent
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TL;DR
- Hotels, tour operators, and travel agencies are creating their own online tools and loyalty programs to compete with autonomous AI travel agents.
- A survey indicated that a significant percentage of people would use AI tools for researching destinations and planning holiday itineraries.
- Accor is investing in integrated apps for direct bookings within large language models and promoting its loyalty program.
- Bank of America suggests loyalty ecosystems and personalized rewards are crucial for travel operators amidst AI's rise.
- Optimists hope AI agents will offer a cheaper alternative to online travel agents, while others fear reduced brand recognition.
- Intermediaries face pressure from AI chatbots that can arrange travel without their services, impacting shares of companies like Booking Holdings and Expedia.
- Skyscanner is enabling conversational search and developing an app within the ChatGPT marketplace to cater to AI-native customers.
- Personalization is critical, with travelers expecting companies to remember them, a capability enhanced by LLMs.
- Entrepreneurs are developing AI tools, like BookYolo, to help consumers find the best travel deals and reduce 'post-booking regret'.