97.8% of industry executives expect AI to have a significant impact in their industry
MADRID, 29 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Artificial Intelligence is taking the travel industry by storm around the world. 97.8% of executives in the sector say that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will have a decisive impact in their sector since the massive use of tools such as chatGPT could change the way in which travel is booked around the world .
AI could disrupt the global travel booking industry, where 66% of bookings are already made online. Reservations through mobile phones represent 35% of all sales made, which represents a great opportunity for economic growth for the new tools.
Travelers’ use of artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT to plan their travel itineraries is booming, according to market research firm Euromonitor International.
This increase in massive use is explained by convenience and accessibility 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Travelers can access AI tools from a multitude of devices, such as smartphones and computers, anytime and anywhere with an Internet connection.
For all these reasons, 97.8% of the executives surveyed by Euromonitor International anticipate that AI will have a significant impact on their businesses over the next five years. And it is that the novelty could alter the sector of travel reservations, which is already highly digitized.
In this context, the travel sector is already taking measures in an accelerated manner. Expedia announced in April 2023 its collaboration with OpenAI, offering ChatGPT-powered trip planning for iOS, as well as offering an add-on to ChatGPT Plus users.
Expedia’s ChatGPT experience offers personalized recommendations, acting as a virtual travel assistant and offering results on hotels and things to do in the destination.
Other large tour operators such as Kayak or Booking have also announced that they will install chatGPT to facilitate reservations for their users and other travel companies such as TripAdvisor, GetYourGuide and Klook have also followed suit.
Trip.com has also announced the integration of ChatGPT into TripGen, its newly launched AI chatbot that provides real-time assistance, itinerary planning and pre-trip booking advice. Hotels and airlines, for their part, are also turning to generative AI for customer service, while automating menial tasks.
Experts believe that further integration will “inevitably” take place over the years, so that ultimately the travel planning and booking phases will blend seamlessly, depending on access to booking functionality. in real time.
Generative AI is just getting started, offering consumers what Airbnb calls ‘the ultimate concierge’. And it is that the access of artificial intelligence to data in real time can change the rules of the game in the tourism sector.
But this path will not be so easy, according to experts, since there is a great concern for consumer privacy, with countries like Italy temporarily banning ChatGPT.
There is also concern that large language models are based on outdated knowledge of the Internet, with a lag of two years in the case of ChatGPT, without access to news or real-time information. However, access to real-time data has been enabled thanks to a new plugin with Microsoft Bing.
All companies developing these new technologies understand that consumer safety is essential. Thus tech leaders like Elon Musk recently called for a pause in AI development to avoid risks to humanity, including possible extinction by superintelligence, claiming that the AI race was out of control and time was needed to allow the government policy catch up.
Three decades ago, travel agencies faced the advent of online agencies that caused massive agency closures and the loss of numerous jobs. Now the sector is more mature to prevent the arrival of Artificial Intelligence from affecting too much and causing millions in losses for the sector
Microsoft plans to integrate generative AI into its Microsoft 365 Copilot software, so it will inevitably be increasingly present in the daily lives and work of consumers.
According to experts, tourism companies will have to learn to live with this new phase of digital transformation in a ‘test and learn’ process. And only those that know how to combine new technologies with the human touch of travel and hospitality will be able to survive.
