Booking com launches a chat tool to connect hotels and travelers

In fact, as progress continues, tourism could be a world leader for cutting-edge technology and advanced AI. This is the first major online travel agency in the West that has released this type of tool. Trip.com, the Singpore-based online travel agency whose parent is based in China, released a chatbot earlier this year.

Let’s explore how AI will reshape the landscape in ways that are as exciting as necessary. Finding and booking accommodations can be a tedious — and frustrating — part of the travel process. However, using AI in travel planning is an easy way for travelers to complete the booking process by themselves, without time-intensive searches. Whether for business or leisure, the travel process isn’t always easy.

But this isn’t just about keeping up with trends; it’s about leading them. By embracing AI as a key driver of your hotel’s Blue Ocean Strategy, you position your property not just to survive but to thrive in an increasingly competitive market. The concept of a Blue Ocean Strategy, where businesses create demand in an uncontested market space, is not just theoretical. In the hospitality industry, AI offers the opportunity to create unique value propositions that set your hotel apart from the competition. The State of Travel 2024 highlights how the industry’s leaders are leveraging AI not just for incremental improvements, but for transformative changes that redefine what it means to be a hotel. It’s not just about surviving but thriving in an uncontested market space, where AI becomes the catalyst for innovation and growth.

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Operators don’t have time to check multiple systems to ensure their automated tools work correctly. Instead, the PMS is emerging as the one system, dashboard, and control panel they can rely on to provide necessary incites to drive hotel operations. Artificial Intelligence is not just another technological trend; it represents a fundamental shift in how hotels can operate, serve guests, and empower employees. The integration of AI into hotel operations offers unprecedented opportunities for efficiency, personalization, and innovation.

Long-standing challenges such as overworked staff, outdated systems, and resistance to change have left many establishments struggling to keep pace with the dynamic hospitality landscape. In an era of rapid technological advancement and evolving consumer expectations, the hotel industry stands at a crossroads. A boutique hotel group found that implementing AI for staff scheduling resulted in a 12% reduction in labor costs without compromising service quality. The system’s ability to predict staffing needs with precision allowed for better resource allocation and improved employee satisfaction through more consistent work hours. Our look at the most important tourism stories, including destination management, marketing, and development.

Approximately 77% of travelers have run into some type of problem while traveling, according to a Bankrate survey, including long waits, plan disruptions and poor customer service. We’re nowhere near that, which is unfortunate because we do need it badly. I mean, look at what just happened the last couple of days, where things go down, people are upset, and customer service numbers go off the charts.

Another growth area is adventure travel, which is lodges and tented camps. We just opened our JW Marriott Masai Mara earlier this year, and we have several others signed as well. So, the second major trend is what we call ethical escapes, where the customer is interested in sustainable practices.

By analyzing this data, hotels can make informed decisions to enhance service delivery, streamline operations, and improve overall guest satisfaction. Background MOXA Bucharest Boutique Hotel located in Bucharest, Romania, sought to increase its direct bookings and enhance guest engagement while reducing dependency on third-party booking platforms. They aimed to provide a more personalized booking experience and improve operational efficiency. Guests just need to use their smart phone to scan a code given during check-in to start chatting on their preferred messaging platform like Facebook Messenger. Once connected, certain guest requests that the front desk normally processes can be completed by Bebot.

A case study of a popular beach resort showed that AI-driven inventory management helped increase their occupancy rate by 8% during off-peak seasons, translating to a significant boost in annual revenue. Demonstrating its ability to navigate a challenging operating environment, Turkish Airlines finished the first quarter of the year with its highest-ever first-quarter revenue. The airline reached a revenue of $4.4 billion in the first quarter registering an increase of 43 percent year-over-year. Passenger revenues rose by 83 percent recording over $3.6 billion.

Dynamic pricing is a win-win for travelers and businesses — it can help travelers on a budget find the cheapest options for transportation and lodging, and it helps maximize profits and revenue for businesses. AI can even take it a step further to help tailor itineraries based on personal preferences and time limits. From there, users can continue giving directions to the AI for further hyper-personalization. But keep in mind — the more specific users are with their requests, the better information the chatbot will provide. A company like Booking needs to operate massive, scalable customer support phone lines or chatbots.

Many of us now use small doses of AI in everyday life (like Siri, Google Assistant, Alexa, and everything smart home), but hotels are putting this once-sci-fi technology to more widespread use. “The WeChat Pay option is a perfect next step in KLM’s social media strategy. In China we therefore have to be on WeChat, as it has developed into an incredibly important market for KLM,” said Pieter Elbers, president & CEO if KLM.

hours of manual work replying to repetitive questions saved

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. To compete with local providers in every country we operate in, we must offer highly localized and complete solutions. This necessitates that our technology be extremely flexible, capable of adjusting behaviors and supporting a wide range of options across the entire stack. This represents one of our greatest challenges but also what sets us apart in the global competitive landscape. It’s one of those things that really came out of nowhere, which makes it even greater. Some folks were toying with the idea of making a children’s book about Agoda and there was a lot of excitement internally to see what we could do with new Al technologies.

The tool does not yet offer specific real-time information about details like pricing and events. KLM opened a WeChat account in 2014 offering its Chinese passengers service, brand content and commercial offers via the social media platform. Since this May the airline’s customers have the choice to receive their booking confirmation, check-in notification, boarding pass and flight status updates via WeChat.

This article compares five companies that are using chatbots to assist customers in planning their next getaway. Change Chen from DoubleTree by Hilton Shiyan took the top prize, while Issa Li from Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund and Vicky Li from Hilton Chengdu took second and third place, respectively. The competition, which was open to all guests and Hilton Team Members, drew extensive attention from the industry, with about 60 percent of designs submitted by Hilton guests. From increasing direct bookings by 25% with AI-powered chatbots to reducing energy consumption by 40%, these AI tools are already helping hotels achieve incredible results.

It’s nothing new, but telling a human-sounding chatbot to retrieve my personal information feels quite intrusive. Addressing the challenges with the related solutions results in great chatbots hotel success. The findings are based on the HiJiffy data available in the Guest Communication Hub as well as insights and observations provided by Leonardo Hotels for this case study.

Second, it enables us to learn what users care about in ways we couldn’t previously. We have a variety of internal tools, from knowledge-assisted assistants to Al automations for surveying, and Al applications in security, fraud prevention, legal, finance, marketing and more. At present, 62% of our company continuously uses Al, with over 100 use cases in production. This is where Al can really shine, as it allows customers to specify what they’re looking for in their own words. For generative Al projects in particular, we’ve found that they follow a similar cycle. It’s often pretty easy to create a basic prototype but very challenging to make it good enough for production.

AI tools can monitor and analyze feedback across multiple platforms in real time, allowing hotel management to address any issues promptly. This approach to reputation management can significantly enhance guest satisfaction and loyalty. Advanced systems powered by AI in hotels can monitor real-time video feeds to detect and alert staff about suspicious activities or security breaches within hotel premises.

Both AngelList and Crunchbase listed the company of having 11 to 50 employees. While its user numbers are unclear, the app has a 4.5/5 star rating, and 203 reviews, in the Apple App Store, and a 4.4 rating with over 500 installs on Android’s Google Play. For this reason, it’s good practice to include multiple annotators, and to track the level of agreement between them. Annotator disagreement also ought to reflect in the confidence intervals of our metrics, but that’s a topic for another article. Surprisingly, it appears to have improved, too, from 50% to 55%.

Hotel Atlantis has thousands of reviews and 326 of them are included in the OpinRank Review Dataset. Elsewhere we showed how semantic search platforms, like Vectara Neural Search, allow organizations to leverage information stored as unstructured text — unlocking the value in these datasets on a large scale. But due to leaps in the performance of NLP systems made after the introduction of transformers in 2017, combined with the open source nature of many of these models, the landscape is quickly changing. Companies like Rasa have made it easy for organizations to build sophisticated agents that not only work better than their earlier counterparts, but cost a fraction of the time and money to develop, and don’t require experts to design.

Conversion rate from conversation to booking increased

We developed an “agent-copilot” suite to relieve agents of manual work, allowing them to concentrate on customer interactions. These include translations, summaries, text suggestions and automated feedback for tone and empathy. For example, consider filters in online travel agencies like Agoda. Even if we have that filter, it might be hard to find by scanning a list. Instead of working with a fixed list, the customer could simply specify what they’re looking for in plain words, and that helps us to satisfy their intent exactly. Imagine a world where your hotel doesn’t just respond to guest complaints but anticipates and resolves them before they arise.

By analyzing guest data and preferences, AI systems can create highly targeted marketing campaigns that resonate with specific demographics. This personalized approach not only increases booking rates but also drives higher-value reservations. You can foun additiona information about ai customer service and artificial intelligence and NLP. One of the most significant ways AI is impacting hotel finances is through sophisticated dynamic pricing algorithms. These AI-powered systems analyze vast amounts of data in real time, including competitor rates, local events, historical booking patterns, and even weather forecasts.

Amadeus has announced a partnership with Microsoft to introduce an AI-powered chatbot designed to revolutionise the way hoteliers access and interpret business intelligence data. The case of Le Boutique Hotel Moxa exemplifies the transformative potential of AI in boosting revenue and guest satisfaction through smart, data-driven interactions. Apple’s ‘Siri’, the intelligent computer program that also happens to be a personal assistant, has already been around for five years. She’s now being joined – and, in some cases, surpassed – by developments like chatbots and actual robots. No more than 15 years ago we were watching sci-fi films that boggled the mind and tested the limits of our imagination.

Customer reviews: An untapped source of information

Specially designed for small accommodation providers, Little Hotelier offers an intuitive and straightforward booking engine that simplifies the reservation process, aiming to boost direct bookings while minimising administrative burdens. This experiential learning, powered by AI, encourages employees to think outside the box, be more adaptable to change and develop a proactive approach to guest service and hotel management. As a result, the workforce becomes more equipped and enthusiastic about embracing AI-driven transformations, leading to a more innovative, efficient, and guest-focused hotel operation. Implement AI-powered virtual assistants that employees can access anytime for immediate help or information. Whether it’s a question about hotel policies, a guest’s preferences, or how to operate a new piece of technology, the AI assistant can provide instant support, enhancing the employee’s ability to perform their duties effectively. Develop interactive onboarding programs using AI to simulate real-life scenarios that employees might face.

According to a survey by PwC on major hospitality brands, more than 70% of hotel executives wish to automate their operations to improve employee productivity. In an effort to broaden Bard’s accessibility, Google is expanding support for additional languages, enabling more users worldwide to benefit from its advanced capabilities. This expansion includes features like image uploads with Lens, search images in responses, and the ability to modify Bard’s responses, now accessible in over 40 languages. By adopting HiJiffy’s innovative solution, Leonardo Hotels set out to accomplish these objectives and elevate its guest experience to new levels.

Over time, more people got involved and pitched in, but it was never a business-oriented thing with specific goals and timelines. We just wanted to quench our curiosity and create something we could be proud of. AI-powered technologies can help streamline many areas of travel, such as airport operations and hotel booking. Customers want more than just average F&B and a nice room; they’re looking for once-in-a-lifetime experiences and events that are unavailable elsewhere.

We can highlight different elements on the page based on what we think the customer would find most important. For many years, Agoda primarily focused on a single product, which meant our technology stack was heavily centered around hotel bookings. To enable the “connected trip,” we needed to challenge ChatGPT App these assumptions and generalize our tech stack to support multiple products. This became even more complex when we aimed to facilitate single transactions that could include a flight, a hotel booking and an activity. The future of hospitality is not about fighting for the same guests as everyone else.

Second, it provided us with a learning ground to develop effective Al applications. By deploying Al internally first, we could afford to make mistakes and gather invaluable feedback. With our culture of learning and adaptation, we knew our employees would quickly embrace these changes. This method allowed us to generate tangible benefits from Al while honing our skills until we were ready to implement it for our customers.

• And of course, everyone who comes onto Decoder this year wants to talk about AI, and Glenn is definitely bullish on AI over the long term, especially for customer service.
• According to a survey from OliverWyman, 55% of leisure travelers would select a certain booking channel because it uses generative AI.
• It is unclear how much Concur paid for the acquisition, but in a press release, the company said Hipmunk will still continue to run as its own service.
• In the $130 billion market capitalization, these are enormous numbers for most companies, but it’s compared to the scale of the opportunity because travel is so big.
• On the downside, Jiffy’s simplified approach may lack the depth of features or customisation options that larger hotels or those seeking more sophisticated functionality might require.

Most importantly, you’ll be able to offer travellers exclusive incentives, extras, upsells, and packages to win them over and take charge of their experience. Being able to control how the relationship with your guests progresses is crucial for delivering quality experiences, enjoying long term revenue and achieving business success. This feature will allow you to take commission-free bookings from guests via your website and social media accounts such as Facebook.

While robots also improve the customer experience, chatbots have more emphasis in this area because standard questions are more frequently asked to chatbots on websites. Oftentimes, potential customers will ask chatbots questions about amenities, daily specials for hotel restaurants, and operating hours. Ensuring that these questions are answered correctly each time increases customer satisfaction as the customer experiences exactly what they were told. AI is transforming the way hotels market to potential guests and upsell to existing ones.

On top of that, it can integrate with countless direct booking plugin apps that ensure you are making the most of your features. On the other hand, non-visible apps won’t be seen by guests and will focus more on your own performance, such as conversion tracking and marketing programs. In this article, we’ll dive into 10 key examples backed by hard data, illustrating how AI is driving real-world success in the hospitality industry. The success of Mobile Requests inspired Marriott to expand the number of guest-facing mobile communications options, including chatbots for its Marriott Rewards members. Use AI systems to analyze employee performance data and provide constructive feedback. AI can identify patterns and suggest areas for improvement, making the feedback process more objective and comprehensive.

It is unclear how much Concur paid for the acquisition, but in a press release, the company said Hipmunk will still continue to run as its own service. However, Concur plans to integrate Hipmunk’s search technology on to its company oriented business-trip oriented platform. In 2017, Four Seasons conducted a pilot program of the chat service in 30 hotels and found that half ChatGPT of its guests made use of it, averaging more than six chats during a stay. While AI can’t replace the human touch in the hospitality industry, tools powered by AI can handle many of the tasks that are traditionally undertaken by staff. Many back-office tasks can be automated, thereby reducing human error, increasing efficiency and freeing up staff for other important work.

When the user is ready to start planning a complex trip, they can request all of their travel needs, such as hotel dates or flight times, by recording one voice message. Similarly to Apple IMessage’s voice to text feature, HelloGBye converts the vocal request to text which then appears in the chat thread. The company claims that, within 30 seconds, its software can search the web for flights and hotels that fit a user’s preferences and messaged request. This has been the case mainly because luxury hotels pride themselves on their heritage of high-touch, face-to-face customer service. The idea of relegating even a small percentage of those interactions to a machine has proven to be hard for executives at some upscale hotel groups to swallow.

Even as he did not provide specifics on advisers, banks, or valuation, Pagano said the company is currently holding preliminary discussions with banks and stakeholders. He said the company plans to go public by 2026 or 2027, after the hotels have been in operation for around two years, with a proven record of occupancy, cash flow, and profitability. The priority for the company now is to create a revenue stream that supports its value. But when the team at Agoda released “Maya and the Secret World of Agoda” last November, it was clear the project was no joke. And though the project served no specific business purpose, it offers insight into how the company’s use of technology is integral to a decidedly human approach to serving travelers. AI is breaking down silos in the travel booking process by enabling seamless integration across multiple channels.

“I need to add a person to this reservation,” or “I need to cancel this reservation,” and that’s then freeing up the duties and responsibilities of the host if you’d called the restaurant and wanted to tell them to change it. Instead of talking to a human, the machine, the generative AI, is doing it for them. But let me flip the DMA conversation on its head for one second. There are companies here in this country that are thrilled about the DMA, that would love something like the DMA to come. You don’t pay for API access, but what’s interesting about your case is you say, “Yes, that was the first… that was the jury’s decision.” Fortunately, we’re not done yet.

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. And that, in the end, we won’t then get the commission because they booked it with you, et cetera. Because [in] other countries, we’d already dropped that parity, we saw there wasn’t much of a change actually in the business. But if you want a home, we can provide you with a home, too. So, really, at the end of the day, it’s “what does the customer want? ” That’s what our job is — to provide them what they want, and we’ll provide them the value so they can get it better from us than they could other ways.