How AI Enables Competitive Advantages for Travel Companies

As technology advances alongside the travel industry, it's important that travel companies stay up to date with the newest advancements, and harnessing the newest transformation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), will allow companies to gain a competitive advantage in the travel industry, using AI as a powerful tool to deliver exceptional service and experiences to their customers.

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Plenty of travel companies have already begun implementing AI into their businesses with great success, including big booking names including Skyscanner, AirBNB, and Expedia, as well as the introduction of new digital travel agencies formed around AI, such as Hoppers. These businesses have seen great results in their sites with the help of AI, and it is time other travel businesses add AI into their companies in order to stand out.

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1. Transforming Customer Experience: The Power of AI in Enriching Customer Service

Customer service is key for every travel company, whether customers are looking to make a hotel booking through a platform, customise an itinerary, or discover what possible destinations are a good fit for them. With their implementation, customers can ask the AI-powered travel assistant to personalise their itineraries, providing them with details such as budget, possible locations, the type of trip they’re looking for, how many travellers, and any other specific things they want incorporated in their trip. (1)  According to The Motley Fool, companies like AirBnb have already begun incorporating “the ultimate AI concierge that could give you individualized advice… getting valuable, personalized advice is one of the most difficult challenges in the travel industry, and being able to do so would give AirBnb a competitive advantage”. 

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Furthermore, AI chatbots' ability to respond immediately keeps customers satisfied, leading to glowing reviews and endorsements. Customers will be able to receive information about bookings quickly and accurately, ensuring that customers are content with the service they’ve received from the travel company. The implementation of AI travel assistants creates a convenient process for customers, creating a greater appeal to the respective company. (2)

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AI travel assistants also take off the burden of the first steps of planning for travel designers, allowing them to shift their focus to adding their own human touch to the itineraries curated by AI. It allows for quick and easy brainstorming, while also getting a sense of what each customer wants. While AI can take care of the planning, providing live assistance, employees can take the opportunity to delve into their creative side, incorporating personal recommendations such as restaurant recommendations in the area or off-the-beaten-path gems. Implementing AI will allow for employees to dedicate themselves to unleashing their expertise, curating recommendations for each individual. 

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2. Unlocking AI’s potential: Increased conversion within businesses

With AI’s instant response capabilities, spewing information out in real time to customers, conversions for travel companies will increase. One of the most prominent reasons for this is with AI travel assistants, customers will be able to receive potential hotels, tours, flights, and destinations immediately, encouraging real-time bookings to be made, without delays. 

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When planning a trip for a customer, there is normally an immense amount of emails with back and forth exchanges, different requests and questions, and possible concerns that may arise in the process between an employee and the customer. This can prolong the booking process, perhaps causing customers to rethink their travel plans. With immediate responses, there is a higher likelihood for impulse bookings. Customers may feel excited about the trip, and reserve it with less overthinking and less debating. (4)

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3. AI-powered bliss with Operational Efficiency and Automation

With AI-powered travel assistants having the capability to take over mundane, repetitive tasks, employees will be satisfied in their daily work. With AI taking over tasks such as answering Frequently Asked Questions, which can become a burden for many employees, as well as tasks such as answering specific questions about ones booking, perhaps the regurgitation of amenities in the hotel, or what time a specific tour booked may leave at, employees will be able to spend less time responding to emails, and more time focusing on other more engaging tasks. (3) 

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4. Data Analytics and Insights

The integration of AI-driven data analytics can be a real game changer for travel businesses. In this day and age, huge amounts of data are generated from bookings, customer interactions, and various other sources, making data analytics a daunting task. With machine learning algorithms, AI can identify patterns, and correlations, amongst a wide variety of other trends and interactions that might go unnoticed through traditional methods of data analysis. As a result, travel businesses can extract valuable insights that provide a deeper understanding of customer preferences and booking behaviours, along with other user-based trends, allowing travel companies to curate their offerings to suit their customer databases.  Mize discusses the digital travel business Hoppers, noting that “their extensive database consists of trillions of historic flight prices, and live price feeds to work out recommendations. It is reported that this app has sold more than $600 million worth of flight tickets since its invention.”  Hoppers has had proven success with incorporating AI into the flight-booking field, further proving how beneficial AI can be to travel companies, increasing revenue. 

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Also, AI has the power to improve how travel companies respond to unforeseen events and disruptions. The travel industry is one of the sectors that is most susceptible to external factors, such as natural disasters, economic crises, political changes, and pandemics, with tourism and hospitality being one of the hardest hit industries during the recent Coronavirus pandemic. By continuously analysing real-time data streams and historical patterns, AI systems can detect deviations from expected trends.  Matador Network confirms travel companies have had proven success with this method of data analysis, stating, “Expedia has developed an AI-powered travel booking tool to help streamline and enhance the travel booking experience for users. The tool can also anticipate potential issues that could arise during a trip and proactively provide solutions to minimize disruptions.” This early detection ensures travel companies can plan to adjust their strategies, implement contingency plans, and mitigate potential risks. 

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5. Language Translation and Global Expansion

The integration of AI-powered language translation will forever transform the range of travel businesses. Normally, language barriers have acted as a constraint on the global outreach of travel companies, limiting their services to specific linguistic regions. With the emergence of AI-driven translation technology has revolutionised this landscape, travel businesses no longer have to worry about language barriers and can now offer their services, websites, and promotional materials in multiple languages, widening their market and creating opportunities for growth.  

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Through real-time language translation, Natural Language Processings (NLP), a branch of AI, empowers travel companies to provide multilingual customer support that resonates with international travellers. Getting rid of language-related obstacles ensures that travellers can access assistance in their preferred languages without any wait times. This increased communication will instil confidence in travel companies' global clientele, as they deliver exceptional service across cultural and linguistic barriers. 

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6. Optimised Marketing and Customer Engagement 

By acquiring data on customer trends, AI has the capability of targeting specific customer segments with tailored messages and offers. Travel companies are able to connect deeper with their audiences by enabling highly personalised AI-driven marketing campaigns, leveraging AI’s analytical skills to create a marketing scheme that resonates with individual preferences. Ultimately, more personalised advertisements will lead to higher interaction rates among customers, increasing conversion rates and Return on Investment (ROIs).

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Another advanced facet of AI, Sentiment analysis, has the power to transform the way companies understand customer sentiment, allowing them to adjust their marketing tactics accordingly. Through analysis of social media platforms and other digital platforms, AI can monitor how customers perceive their online experiences, allowing travel businesses to quickly adjust to trending sentiments in customers, and aligning marketing tactics to further increase their conversion.  As per Mize, companies like Mindtree’s PaxPulse have already begun processing customer sentiments within their algorithms, stating, “When a particular passenger posts on social media about his travel partner, its smart algorithms process this sentiment and provide a certain recommendation to resolve passenger concerns”. This process is not only quick and efficient, but delivers a better customer experience. 

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7. Demand Prediction and Pricing Optimization

Incorporating AI into the realm of travel businesses can strongly enhance strategic financial optimization. With AI algorithms, travel companies no longer have to resort to traditional methods of demand prediction and price optimization and can instead allow AI to meticulously analyse both historical and real-time data, granting businesses access to hidden patterns and trends that form travel demand. As mentinoned by Mize, “The travel reservation giants like Booking.com, Skyscanner, and Expedia are utilizing such chatbots in their operations. Usually, you will be prompted to start a conversation with a chatbot by entering the details of your intended journey. The bot will search through the booking sites and find you the best deal.” With these insights, while taking into account each customer's preferred method of travel, travel businesses can make data-driven decisions, aligning their offerings with customer preferences and marketing dynamics.  

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Traditional pricing models are also rapidly being replaced by AI-powered dynamic pricing strategies that can adapt to changing marketing conditions in real-time. These strategies are able to consider many different factors, including supply, demand, competition, as well as external events, including but not limited to holidays, festivals, and other major events. This ensures that prices remain optimal to maximise revenue and occupancy rates, and it also has the ability to offer customers flexible pricing options that match each individual's preferences and budget, benefiting both travel companies and customer experiences. 

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Live the World’s Maya - The future of travel companies

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Live the World’s Maya is an advanced feature that not only allows travellers to gather inspiration for their next trip in a quick and easy manner, but also allows for personalization, providing authentic experiences and going deeper than the surface level, with the ability to recommend hidden gems, be attentive to each customer, and facilitate a meaningful conversation surrounding potential bookings. With the ability to process complex information provided by customers, Maya is bound to inspire customers with new destinations, itineraries, and activities. 

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Maya’s capability to respond to customer inquiries with zero wait times encourages more bookings, increases customer satisfaction, and increases employee satisfaction, taking off the load of redundant tasks and duties. Immediate bookings, responses in real-time, and the ability to learn about the customers almost instantly demonstrate the state-of-the-art technology that Maya has to offer travel businesses. 

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As the travel industry continues to grow and strengthen everyday, it is important to get ahead of the curve, and implementing AI into travel companies at an early stage is essential in order for travel companies to gain an advantage over competition. Sophisticated tools like Maya are an effective way to gain an advantage over more digitised competitors, and it is quicker and more cost-efficient in comparison to developing a program in-house or with consultants.  

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Sources:

1. Amadeus: How artificial intelligence could inspire your perfect next trip
2. HotelTechReport: AI in Hospitality: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Hotel Industry
3. Publicissapient: How Can Generative AI Improve the Guest Experience?
4. CNBC: ChatGPT and generative A.I. are already changing the way we book trips and travel

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