Plan me a holiday: how AI chatbots are changing travel

What should I see if I have two days in Barcelona? What are my options for getting from Sydney to Melbourne? Where can I go if I want warmth with the sea and the mountains not far away?

Guidebooks or travel agency staff can answer such questions, as can the friend who was last in Barcelona. But artificial intelligence systems are increasingly delivering the answers, and the technology has long since arrived in travel, changing how we plan and book holidays.

Millions are already turning to AI for travel help, and research has shown it is changing how holidays are planned and booked.

According to a recent survey by German travel research group FUR, 17% of people aged 18 to 75 in the country have already used AI applications in connection with a holiday, which translates into more than 10 million people. More than a third, 35% or 21 million people, say they have not, but can imagine using AI in the future. The representative survey also found that of the respondents who had already used chatbots for their holiday planning, about half or 48%, found AI’s suggestions helpful. Many - 42% - say it saved them time.

However, one in six (16%) complained about incorrect information. In each case, 10% say AI reduces spontaneous discoveries and leads to less immersion in local culture.

As in all areas of life, AI in travel has positives and negatives, but it is here to stay.

"The masses will more or less follow it blindly," says Michael Buller, a board member of the Internet Travel Distribution Association (VIR), whose members include Booking.com, the Expedia Group and Holidaycheck.

The development of AI is moving alarmingly fast, he says. What also concerns the travel distribution professional is the question of responsibility. At present, responsibility lies with users, he notes.

"But it may be that companies will at some point take over the providers of AI systems and say: We will provide the right prompts." In that case the firms would also be responsible for the answers. Prompts are the instructions or questions you feed to AI. The more precise and concrete they are, the better the results.

Yet in Buller’s view, many travellers still fail at this when it comes to planning trips tailored to them. Systems now ask follow-up questions on their own or suggest which details could yield more precise results.

For example, when I asked ChatGPT to plan a trip for me, the bot immediately asked: "Where do you want to travel? When and for how long? How are you travelling - as in alone, as a couple, as a family with children or as a group? What is important to you (nature, culture, beach, action, wellness, skiing, city break etc.)? What is your travel budget?"

This is what I wrote: "We are a family that wants to go to South Tyrol for seven days during the first three weeks of Berlin’s summer holidays for a budget of €1,500. We want to hike and get a bit of city life."

It took 22 seconds. The bot then produced an overview filling four A4 pages with options for getting there by car, train and plane, places to stay, suggestions for what to do on each of the seven days, and a packing list for the suitcase.

And just in case four pages are too much to read, the bot provided a summary at the top.

If I had researched that myself, it would have taken hours. This way, I quickly had a first overview.

Google recently added an AI-based search option to its Google Flights tool. Instead of choosing dates, setting filters and typing airports, you simply enter what you have in mind for your trip. Google says this is aimed above all at flexible travellers.

As a test, I typed that I was looking for a one-week trip to a city with good food, where it is still pleasantly warm and which is reachable by direct flight from Berlin. Within seconds I had six offers in front of me, including Marrakesh, Lisbon and Cairo. With three clicks I was on the airline’s booking page and could have bought the tickets. Google says in future you will also be able to book flights and hotels directly in the AI mode.

Buller sees a lot of potential in AI as searches will become easier he predicts. And "personalisation will help ensure that the kind of holiday I take matches me better than before," he says.

Trust plays a major role: how good and credible are the results? As the FUR survey already suggests, what AI spits out is by no means always reliable. But the systems are learning, and users are too.

"The better the experience, the more likely AI is to touch a large part of a life," says Buller. All this is a challenge for the travel industry. "Every business model will certainly have to be questioned," says the VIR board member.

Booking platforms and tour operators are not waiting around. They have long been harnessing AI for their own offerings and are also developing chatbots as an alternative to input forms in which holidaymakers would otherwise have to tick boxes and make decisions.

There is software that detects from mouse movements when you are about to leave a booking website. A chat window then opens and a bot asks how it can help. Many then go ahead and book after all, Buller says.

"Many providers use AI systems, for example for handling complaints or for claims processing by insurers," he says. AI assistants are also making inroads into travel agencies.

"We are equipping our offices with them so that staff have quick answers to certain customer queries," says Ömer Karaca. He is managing director of Schmetterling International, a service provider for more than 2,000 independent travel agencies.

"We are noticing that thanks to ChatGPT and the like, customers are coming into travel agencies better and better informed and sometimes already know everything. Some have even prepared entire itineraries."

You cannot book a trip via ChatGPT though - not yet, at least. But what if that changes?

"Everything is undergoing a huge transformation," Karaca says. That applies to online portals and to travel agencies. But he is not afraid.

"We will use AI, it will support us, but it will not replace us," says the travel agency professional. "This is about holidays, which are about emotion and trust." And therefore also about the human touch.