Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a force for travel
disruption, especially when businesses are focused on creating personalized,
seamless experiences. But travelers need more from AI than just a chatbot or an
itinerary planner with unimpressive recommendations. I believe the real power
of AI lies in what it can do on the backend and how we can use its intelligence
to power the actual retailers of travel —agencies.
Travelers are discovering that, while the convenience of AI
is great for quick answers, humans are critical to getting quality, white-glove
service. While many articles have highlighted travelers using ChatGPT
to plan their trip, what often results is a disappointment: vague
directions, outdated activities, and closed restaurant suggestions. Many of
these tools are still in their early stages and may not utilize the correct
data (or have enough) to help consumers find accurate, relevant and bookable
choices. But when we apply AI to the software that empowers agencies? That
creates faster, more relevant results and happier customers overall.
Choice Overload
Travelport estimates that the travel industry has gone from
about 500 economy/ business options available in 2010 to over 10,000 options in
2024 (economy, economy plus, flexi-family, business, first, etc.). That's a
1,900% increase. As more sources of content from travel suppliers emerge (NDC,
LCC, etc.), more choices don't necessarily translate into a better booking
experience for the customer. Travelers care about more than just price,
especially when they’re inundated with options. Loyalty programs, aircraft
types, WiFi availability, and food and beverage offerings are just some of the
factors that influence decision-making. That's where retailers, empowered with
the right AI capabilities and tools, come in.
The Right Option
Studies show that consumers are so overwhelmed with options
when shopping for travel that many spend an incredible amount of time
researching and comparing options. In fact, Expedia’s
2023 Path2Purchase study found that, on average, travelers view
141 pages of travel content in the 45 days before booking a trip. Of course,
price and duration will always be essential attributes when searching for
travel. However, with so many options to compare, retailers need AI and ML to
show them the offers that are most likely to fit their travelers. If Google and
Amazon have taught us anything, finding the right product at the top of your
search page really matters. No one ever said, "Wow that was an amazingly
fast, super smart search process" – yet we would feel it if the results
were inaccurate. Duplicate fares, content that cannot be booked, and confusing
offers add complexity to travel retailing. In a world where multi-source
content is here to stay, the industry needs greater intelligence – the ability
to intelligently curate content, using the power of AI and machine learning
(ML), to quickly piece together the options a customer is most likely to book.
Speed Matters
Along with finding the best options, travelers also care
about their time. Digital retailers are losing
$300B from bad online search experiences in the US alone. This
poses a real threat to online travel agencies. Using AI in the most impactful
way means generating the best options fast to avoid latency that
leads to frustration and takes the joy out of booking a trip. We're using AI
and ML to sift through aggregated, multi-source content and return relevant
search results even faster than the average airline response time. The best retailers
in any industry piece together suitable offers at the right time – and in
travel, AI and ML are critical to enhancing search and shopping experiences
with greater speed and intelligence.
On its own, AI will never be able to replace a travel agent
or deliver the value an agency can. But it holds the power to ease the burdens
of multi-source content and choice overload. We developed our Content
Curation Layer (CCL) and Content Optimizer to do just that:
deliver the proper range of accurate, highly intuitive search results to our
travel agency partners worldwide. It's time for travel technology to put
control back in the hands of the industry's true retailers.
By Jen Catto, Chief Marketing
Officer at Travelport.
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