The need for AI in travel has grown more urgent as travelers’ expectations have risen. Almost half of Americans rate their air travel experience as average or below average, so companies have turned to artificial intelligence to smooth out some of the turbulence.
AI in Travel
AI travel technologies are driving quicker customer service, personalized recommendations, flight forecasting and other advancements. Chatbots and AI travel planners can answer questions, share info about hotels and destinations and perform other tasks to create individualized travel experiences.
AI for travel comes in many forms. For example, it can respond to customer questions and queries with chatbots and digital assistants; offer personalized travel recommendations based on someone’s previous search history; analyze customer reviews and social media posts; and track bags, flight forecasts and other variables.
As a result, organizations can pinpoint inefficiencies, learn from customer data and adjust their workflows and products. The outcome of these efforts is a more tailored and seamless travel experience for customers.
Below are travel companies embracing artificial intelligence and finding effective ways to introduce AI in the travel industry.
AI in Travel Examples
How it uses AI in travel: Smartly offers an AI-powered advertising platform that supports ad campaigns for brands in a variety of industries, including travel. Its solutions range from AI-generated backgrounds for digital ads to automated campaign management. Travel businesses that use Smartly’s technology have seen their conversion rates multiply and were able to reduce their manual workload for creative production.
How it uses AI in travel: IDeaS builds software and systems to streamline revenue management for travel and hospitality businesses. Its solutions are infused with AI capabilities, powering automations that cut down on manual tasks to enhance productivity and actionable insights to inform profitable decisions. Ideas’ technology supports thousands of hotels and resorts across more than 150 countries.
How it uses AI in travel: Concierge by Ava, part of Navan’s all-in-one travel tech platform, addresses the challenge of personalization in travel bookings. With multi-tasking, generative AI capabilities, Ava learns travelers’ patterns and preferences to streamline the booking process. Integrated directly into the web application, Ava goes beyond traditional AI tools by also automating search fields in the Navan app.
How it uses AI in travel: Sojern’s tech solutions for its travel and hospital industry clients include an AI Smart Concierge to engage guests and improve their overall experience. It’s equipped with more than 1,000 responses to guest questions, giving the virtual concierge the ability to handle tasks such as having items sent up to a hotel room as requested or scheduling spa services.
How it uses AI in travel: Sabre delivers AI and machine learning solutions to travel companies in the form of Sabre Travel AI. This product suite enables airlines and other travel parties to access real-time customer insights, send relevant offers to customers, reduce costs through automation and ultimately generate more revenue. Sabre Travel AI also works with Sabre’s products for market and retail intelligence, so companies can survey larger industry trends and make informed business decisions.
How it uses AI in travel: IHG is a global hospitality company that oversees 16 brands and is updating its offerings with an AI-controlled bedroom. Through its partnership with Josh.ai, IHG is implementing AI that understands voice commands via natural language processing. This way, customers can make a simple request to play music, stream a show and take other measures to make themselves comfortable during their stay.
How it uses AI in travel: Hyatt is a global hotel chain that is upgrading its services by combining AI and travel in the form of an AI-powered bed. The Bryte Restorative Sleep bed relies on sensors to track a patient’s heart rate and breathing, adjusting the temperature and firmness of the bed to help sleepers enjoy a deeper doze. Customers can even set pre-programmed movements, so the bed nudges them awake in the morning.
How it uses AI in travel: FLYR keeps airlines one step ahead of market trends with its revenue operating system. Known as Cirrus, the company’s platform compiles data from airlines and relies on AI algorithms to analyze the data and produce accurate forecasts on sales, booking activities and other travel factors. Travel companies can then anticipate loading levels of certain flights and determine prices that account for the rise and fall in demand.
How it uses AI in travel: TripAdvisor is known for guiding travelers with tips and insights ahead of their journey, but the company has made waves for its AI virtual voice tour to revamp tourism activity in Orlando and Abu Dhabi. Designed for virtual assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, the project allows consumers to take a voice-directed tour of their chosen location, covering restaurants, hotels, cultural spots and other popular attractions — depending on what each consumer requests to learn more about.
How it uses AI in travel: Outdoorsy is an online marketplace that connects recreational vehicle owners with individuals and families looking to rent RVs for their next road trip. Customers can search the company’s site for the RV that fits their needs, then reach out to the owner for specifics. During these interactions, Outdoorsy’s AI-powered software reviews online customer behaviors to locate potentially fraudulent activities, creating more transparency and confidence in the platform.
How it uses AI in travel: KAYAK is a travel search engine that leverages AI and machine learning to explore travel sites for flights, hotels and other amenities that satisfy each traveler’s needs. The company also wields an AI-powered price prediction model that forecasts whether the costs of flights will likely rise or fall. Based on this analysis, KAYAK recommends when a customer can purchase a flight to get the most out of their investment.
How it uses AI in travel: SmarterTravel serves as an online hub compiling information on destinations, hotels, travel tips, gear and other travel trends. To help customers easily navigate its various insights, the company applies AI and machine learning to find relevant resources for each customer. Besides general travel info, customers can also receive discount offers to keep their dream destinations affordable.
How it uses AI in travel: Hopper helps travelers find deals on hotels, flights and rental cars via a mobile app, and companies can work with Hopper to access its fintech travel products. In particular, Hopper’s cloud platform employs AI and machine learning models that analyze years of travel data and price products accordingly. Companies that partner with Hopper can take advantage of this technology to provide their customers with reasonable travel prices.
How it uses AI in travel: Expedia Group supports global travel with its suite of online products, and the company is making trip planning even easier with its AI travel agent. With a virtual assistant, customers can cancel flight bookings, double-check hotel reservations and complete other simple tasks. Expedia’s AI assistant can also review more in-depth details like looking into breakfast options and verifying venues’ wheelchair accessibility.