Jamaine Punzalan

In this photo taken on October 1, 2020, residents swim at a beach in Borocay, Malay town, Aklan. AFP/File

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/174468248868520201001-covid-boracay-opening-2-AFP.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">In this photo taken on October 1, 2020, residents swim at a beach in Boracay, Malay town, Aklan. AFP/File </span></span></span></div><p>Dreaming of going on vacation but not sure where to go? Increasingly the answer -- and how to get there, what to eat and where to stay -- will come from advanced AI, rather than your old-school travel agent.</p><p>Startup Mindtrip&#x27;s generative AI can craft a tailor-made itinerary in seconds from a simple text prompt, with suggestions for hotels, restaurants, sightseeing and activities.</p><p>After picking out their favorite options, travelers can have every step of the trip reserved in the app -- or on partner websites that open directly to the relevant page.</p><p>&quot;Instead of going to Google and you do one search, and then you do another... you can actually just get into everything,&quot; Mindtrip chief executive Andy Moss said.</p><p>Similar tourism-focused startups include Vacay, while others like Navan are taking on the business travel market.</p><p>Generative AI heavyweights like Google with its Gemini chatbot, OpenAI with Operator or Anthropic with Claude are also heavily marketing holiday planning.</p><p>Existing mainstays of the online travel market are adapting.</p><p>Expedia launched an assistant, Romie, last year that can help with some reservation steps -- mostly used for group trips. Its rival Booking.com introduced Smart Filter, which allows users to request specific recommendations -- such as an Amsterdam hotel room with canal views.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s early days, but we do believe agentic (AI) will allow us to deliver unique value,&quot; Booking.com&#x27;s chief technology officer Rob Francis told AFP.</p><p>French giant Club Med has a WhatsApp chatbot on offer that lets customers ask practical questions, chairman Henri Giscard d&#x27;Estaing told AFP.</p><p>&quot;When it was a human answering, it took an average of one and a half hours&quot; to hear back, he noted.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>REAL-TIME CHANGES</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>The transformation of travel booking is &quot;capitalizing on the fact that people want more personalized experiences,&quot; said Jukka Laitamaki, a New York University professor specializing in the travel sector.</p><p>He notes that AI already does much more than simply streamlining the booking process.</p><p>&quot;Whatever real-time changes may happen... you don&#x27;t have to call anybody, you can just put it into the system&quot; to have your itinerary instantly updated, Laitamaki added.</p><p>However, &quot;widespread adoption will be slow,&quot; said Eva Stewart of consultancy GSIQ.</p><p>&quot;The travel and tourism industry is mostly made up of small and medium-sized businesses -- independent hotels, tour operators, and regional agencies -- that lack the infrastructure for large-scale AI integration,&quot; she said.</p><p>Startups may be leading the way for now, but Stewart predicted that major legacy players online could make a comeback powered by their &quot;vast resources and technical capabilities.&quot;</p><p>&quot;They have their customer base,&quot; Laitamaki said. &quot;That&#x27;s an advantage.&quot;</p><p>As for the human travel agents, their best chance for survival may lie in catering to people who can afford more for the personal touch.</p><p>&quot;I don&#x27;t think this is going to make an impact on ultra luxury travel,&quot; with the wealthy preferring to deal with a person, researcher Laitamaki said.</p><p>But &quot;everything down from there&quot; is likely to be affected.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/technology/2025/4/11/journalists-urged-to-train-on-ai-1335">Journalists urged to train on AI</a><br/><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/technology/2025/4/13/ateneo-lab-develops-ai-dental-assistant-with-near-perfect-accuracy-0932">Ateneo lab develops AI dental assistant with ‘near-perfect’ accuracy</a><br/><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/technology/2025/4/11/canva-launches-ai-powered-spreadsheet-to-boost-design-process-0914">Canva launches AI-powered spreadsheet to boost design process</a></div><div> </div>

<p>Dreaming of going on vacation but not sure where to go? Increasingly the answer -- and how to get there, what to eat and where to stay -- will come from advanced AI, rather than your old-school travel agent.</p>

Dreaming of going on vacation but not sure where to go? Increasingly the answer -- and how to get there, what to eat and where to stay -- will come from advanced AI, rather than your old-school travel agent.

AI agents poised to take over travel industry

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AI agents poised to take over travel industry

Agence France-Presse,

Thomas Urbain

Published April 15, 2025 10:03 AM PHT

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