How AI is Changing the Booking Process for Travelers and Destinations
November 5, 2024
Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing how many people live and work, so it’s no surprise that it’s also influencing how they travel. Before they ever set foot in a destination, a growing percentage of travelers are using AI in their booking process. According to research released in August from Longwoods International, 19% of travelers used AI for travel planning in the last six months. That number is up from 14% in February with 34% of travelers now saying it’s likely they will use AI to book their next trip.
Personalized Booking
From the moment travelers begin to plan their trip with an online search for their destination, lodging, or things to do, AI is at the forefront of the user experience with immediate AI-generated results in the form of overviews that are intended to answer with the most relevant content. According to
Even in the earliest stages of planning, AI tools like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini can act like a virtual travel agent, sifting through data to answer questions like, ‘When is the best time to travel to a certain destination?’ or ‘Show me an overview of neighborhoods in this city,’ or ‘Give me a list of popular family-friendly vacation spots on the East Coast.’”
“The past few months alone have seen a lot of change in the search results page (SERP) as Google in particular tests pulling content into Gemini. Additionally, ChatGPT has created a browser extension to be used as the default search engine,” explained Heather Molina, Senior Director of Strategic Insights at Madden.
Increasingly websites, such as Tripadvisor, are incorporating their own AI trip planners, allowing users to select their destination, who they are traveling with (solo, family, or friends), and add their interests. The AI trip planner then generates recommendations for everything from hotels to breakfast and dinner spots, to attractions and tours, shortening the time a traveler spends searching and bringing them to the booking stage sooner.
Predicting Pricing
Before they even pull out their wallets, a growing percentage of travelers are using AI in their booking process to find the best price for their trip. For instance, according to Forbes, AI’s data analysis and predictive analytics capabilities allow websites like Hopper to forecast flight prices. But it’s not just the traveler booking the trip who is benefiting from the technology. Airlines and hotels are also using AI’s data analysis and predictive capabilities to adjust pricing based on demand, optimizing revenue potential and enhancing competitiveness.
What does this mean for Destinations?
As AI technology reshapes the tourism landscape, destinations need to proactively adapt marketing and management strategies to keep pace.
“We have tools that allow us to determine how much of a destination’s SEO keyword opportunity is for generative AI placements and traditional SEO placements. We are seeing AI results showing for more and more destination searches,” said Molina. “ This makes it critical that destinations start to pay attention and develop directional strategy for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) in addition to SEO.”
While AI is changing how travelers search, it also offers tools to enhance how destinations understand and engage with travelers, creating opportunities for more personalized interactions.
AI-powered chatbots on destination websites operate similarly to these AI trip planners, moving users directly to the content that’s relevant to them by providing instant, personalized responses to queries about local attractions, accommodations, and activities (check out a chatbot in action on a site we built for The Palm Beaches). These chatbots use natural language processing to understand user intent and offer tailored recommendations. This streamlines the booking process and saves travelers time by offering real-time assistance, answering questions, and guiding them from planning through booking while significantly reducing friction and increasing conversions.
Future of Travelers Using AI in Their Booking Process
In a short amount of time, technology has significantly changed the way many plan their travel with a growing percentage of travelers using AI in their booking process. Experts predict this is only the beginning and AI trip planners are expected to play an even larger role.
“In the future, using a mix of predictive analytics and machine learning, AI-enabled DMOs will be better capable of anticipating visitor preferences and offering more tailored recommendations, optimizing the experience for the traveler and enhancing satisfaction,” explained Matt Clement, Managing Partner at Madden. “This will also have the critical benefit of enabling the DMO to better serve local stakeholders, such as hotels, attractions, restaurants, and small businesses.”
Booking.com’s CEO Glenn Fogel expects it’s only a matter of time until AI is used to make travel recommendations before a search is even initiated. “I want us to be coming to the traveler and saying, ‘Hi. We think, given everything we know, that you’re probably wanting to go to Naples in Italy, and, using all the data we have and all we know about our customers, [we anticipate] what they may want and try to start that conversation and build on what they may potentially may want to do,” Fogel explained in a CNBC interview. “Whereas right now, people go to start their search and they’re a little bit lost. I want to start it with all the things we know.”
While Fogel stresses that there is still time before the technology advances to that point, it is important for DMOs to be factoring in AI and how travelers are using it in the booking process. From incorporating chatbots and natural language processing into your website to evolving SEM efforts and enhancing content and SEO to ensure that your site is a trustworthy and authoritative source of information so that it earns mentions in AI overviews and conversations facilitated by AI trip planners.
