Travel agencies are reportedly equipping themselves with new artificial intelligence (AI) tools to hold their own against larger competitors that are deploying AI agents.
The agencies are using their new tools to complement the human insight professional travel planners already provide, Bloomberg reported Friday (Dec. 5).
The report noted that large companies like Expedia, Google and Kayak are using generative AI to answer travel questions. Consumers are increasingly comfortable with using AI get ideas and plan and book trips, it added.
In this environment, one travel agency, Fora, has armed its travel designers with an in-house AI tool called Price Drop that monitors the global distribution system for price drops in hotel stays and airfares that they have already booked, according to the report.
With this information, the agency’s human agents can contact clients and offer them the choice of the same accommodations at a lower price or better accommodations at the same price, per the report.
Another travel agency, Embark Beyond, created an AI-powered tool that helps advisors make suggestions that are personalized to their ultra-high-net-worth clients, according to the report.
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The tool helps agents match their clients with travel destinations that offer amenities and experiences that would interest them, and notifies agents when new offerings become available, per the report.
It was reported in September that online booking giants like Booking.com, Expedia and Airbnb were embracing AI to avoid being replaced by AI agents that help travelers arrange trips and lodging.
Among the AI-enabled features being developed or already deployed by some of these companies are ones that automate services and launch tools such as trip planners, handle customer queries, search for trip ideas and complete checkout.
The PYMNTS Intelligence report “At Your Service: Generative AI Arrives in Travel and Hospitality” found that 52% of hospitality customers expect generative AI to play a role in customer interactions and that 44% believe the technology will be used to improve guest engagement.
However, the report added that experts said generative AI should enhance rather than replace human interactions.
“Businesses’ overreliance on generative AI could lead to artificial-sounding messages that alienate customers,” the report said.
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