{"id":66711,"date":"2025-06-02T15:05:33","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T12:05:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/intellias.com\/?post_type=blog&p=66711"},"modified":"2025-06-02T16:12:56","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T13:12:56","slug":"ai-in-travel-spotlight-on-market-opportunities","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/intellias.com\/ai-in-travel\/","title":{"rendered":"AI in Travel: Spotlight on Top AI Use Cases and Market Opportunities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tourism and hospitality companies have been somewhat skeptical of adopting AI in travel, as exploring new places is an inherently human-centric experience. But the sentiment is shifting.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Europe is and will be a fantastic place to invent new AI applications, especially for tourism. We are the first tourism destination of the world, so we are the one generating the largest, biggest amount of data in tourism on this planet.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tThierry Breton,<\/a> <\/span> Commissioner for the Internal Market of the European Union<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t<\/section>\n

Domestic and international travel is growing, and companies are looking for new ways to capitalize on this growth. AI appears to hold significant promise as a technology that can help the travel industry on this journey.<\/p>\n

In this post, we analyze the scale of AI in travel and zoom in on benefits, commercial opportunities, and use cases by major brands.<\/p>\n

Key benefits of AI in travel<\/h2>\n

AI models are much better than humans at analyzing data \u2014 and the travel industry has troves of data. Using algorithms for advanced data analytics, travel companies can reach more customers, elevate service levels, tap into new revenue channels, and increase operational efficiency.<\/p>\n

Deeper customer insights<\/h3>\n

Machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) algorithms<\/a> can trawl millions of data points in provided datasets to uncover correlations, trends, and similarities. This ability to quickly process massive amounts of data allows ML to enable advanced customer segmentation, sentiment analysis, and behavior forecasting.<\/p>\n

Airbnb, an early and enthusiastic adopter of artificial intelligence and machine learning<\/a>, uses AI for multiple purposes, including customer profiling. Analyzing data from social media and other sources, the accommodation marketplace gets a complete view of its customers<\/a>. This results in greater safety for both hosts and visitors and helps to prevent fraud.<\/p>\n

Better customer service<\/h3>\n

Thanks to natural language processing (NLP), ML algorithms can easily understand text-based commands and different contextual clues to better deal with incoming customer requests. At the most basic level, AI can help classify and prioritize customer support cases or look up relevant information for agents. More advanced AI use cases include end-to-end customer issue resolution and voice-based customer support.<\/p>\n

Artificial intelligence in tourism can increase support staff productivity by 20% to 50%<\/a>, or even more. Airlines like Cathay <\/a>Pacific<\/a> already handle 50% of their customer care chats with AI assistants, allowing human agents to focus on more complex cases.<\/p>\n

New revenue channels<\/h3>\n

AI models are good for needle-in-the-haystack types of problems. By applying classification, regression, or inference, algorithms can locate new revenue-generating and\/or cost-saving opportunities within a presented dataset. An average AI model can make over 100 million<\/a> sales-related decisions each day.<\/p>\n

Model outputs can vary from hyper-personalized cross-sells or upsells to dynamic price optimization. Finnair, for example, increased revenue by 3%<\/a>\u00a0 by optimizing prices across 70 origin and destination (O&D) segments with AI.<\/p>\n

Streamlined operations<\/h3>\n

Apart from supplying teams with business intelligence, algorithms can also handle low-value menial work, ranging from data entry and reconciliation to data modeling and reporting. When integrated with other travel technology<\/a> \u2014 booking engines, property management systems, revenue management software \u2014 AI algorithms can also complete more complex workflows: automatically check in guests, design better route schedules, or optimize staffing levels based on demand trends.<\/p>\n

citizenM<\/a>, for example, uses Mist AI<\/a> by Juniper \u2014 an intelligent IT operations and support platform \u2014 to streamline the deployment and provisioning of IT services across its portfolio of properties. Thanks to AI, the hotel\u2019s team can create automated cloud workflows to support exceptional guest experiences, from guest self-checkout to in-room technology. With AI-driven IT infrastructure and network monitoring, citizenM can also have fewer technical staff on-site for troubleshooting.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Enhance your service teams with intelligent automation.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n Let us show you how<\/span>\n\t\t <\/a><\/div>\n

Personalized travel experiences<\/h3>\n

Travel as such is a highly personal activity. Whether you are planning a dream holiday or just need to wind down from your work routine, you want your travel experience to be perfect for you. This is why cookie-cutter vacations don\u2019t work in most cases. AI can be a great source of ideas and offer finely tailored recommendations based on analysis of volumes of data \u2014 booking histories, browsing behavior, social media activity, and so on.<\/p>\n

Such advanced personalization resulted from the collaboration between Booking.com and OpenAI. The hotel aggregator and provider of advanced AI solutions joined forces to \u201cmeet customers earlier in the process, when they were still figuring out what they wanted,\u201d<\/a> as Adrienne Enggist, Senior Director of Product Marketplace at Booking.com, puts it. The solution enables fine filtering and natural language search, increasing the overall conversion rate.<\/p>\n

Dynamic pricing optimization<\/h3>\n

In any business, finding the perfect balance between profitability and competitiveness is a true art. In the travel industry, this is especially true. Too many factors must be considered, as they may directly affect the prices of rooms, flights, or tours: seasonal demand, market trends, and weather conditions, to name a few. Moreover, competitor pricing, local events, and even specific users\u2019 shopping habits can influence prices.<\/p>\n

This is where AI\u2019s superb computing and analytical capabilities can be handy. By processing and analyzing data from multiple sources, both historical and real-time, AI solutions help travel and tourism businesses fine-tune their pricing strategies.<\/p>\n

Marriott International relies heavily on AI to build its pricing strategy. The hotel chain collects data from more than 80 sources, including data on real-time social media sentiment, flight schedules, geopolitical situations, and even air quality. This approach resulted in a 22% improvement<\/a> in Marriott\u2019s revenue per available room in 2025.<\/p>\n

10 real-world use cases of AI in the travel industry, with examples from top brands<\/h2>\n

AI models may be great with analysis, but what can they know about real-world adventures? A lot, actually.
\nChatGPT has turned out to be a capable <\/a>travel agent<\/a>. Whether you\u2019re looking for things to do on a budget in Rome or a 10-day itinerary for a backpacking trip in Peru, ChatGPT will give you options. Thanks to plugins<\/a>, travelers can also compare flights, research car rentals, and handle hotel bookings straight from ChatGPT.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t

28% of travelers said they would consider using AI-powered travel platforms to suggest destinations in 2025.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t<\/section>\n

Current trends show that people actually trust GenAI travel recommendations. A Deloitte survey<\/a> showed that as many as 43% of respondents booked accommodation suggested by AI tools, and 38% chose destinations that AI recommended.<\/p>\n

Travelers considering recommendations by GenAI tools<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"AI<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

But conversational AI in travel is just one use case. Almost every major player in the tourism and travel industry is sizing up the technology\u2019s cross-functional potential and looking into implementing applications of AI in their operations.<\/p>\n

Hotels<\/h3>\n

The hotel industry has many balls in the air: competition is rising, guests are becoming more demanding, operations are getting increasingly complex, and sustainability requirements must be reckoned with. AI is lending a hand to help hotels streamline operations and keep up with modern challenges.<\/p>\n

AI-powered guest experiences<\/h4>\n

From pillow types to entertainment choices, AI can anticipate guests\u2019 preferences down to the smallest detail. Based on previous stays and learning in real time, AI-powered smart hotels smoothen a guest\u2019s journey from check-in to check-out, adjusting amenity settings, recommending dining options, and suggesting places to visit.<\/p>\n

At Virgin Hotels, guests are greeted by Lucy<\/a> \u2014 an in-app virtual assistant. Lucy functions as a contactless mobile key to access the room and can automatically adjust the lights, thermostat, and TV. It also allows guests to request room service or ask about any details regarding the stay.<\/p>\n

Lucy is a capable concierge because it integrates directly with Virgin\u2019s property management system (PMS), which contains data about guest bookings; a point of sale (POS) system used for managing food and beverage operations; a smart system for controlling every appliance in the room; and guest management software, which automatically generates checklists for staff based on guest requests. Thanks to such deep integrations, Lucy can perform a wide range of tasks across all Virgin properties and remember guest preferences for better personalization.<\/p>\n

Process automation<\/h4>\n

Intelligent process automation (IPA)<\/a> helps hotels offload manual and menial business processes, from payment reconciliation to shift planning and housekeeping management, to robots or software. Process automation benefits both guests and staff. Guests enjoy contactless check-in and check-out, avoiding lines at the reception while getting access to quick and efficient room service and support. Hotel personnel benefit through improved productivity and reduced workloads thanks to automated inventory and reservation management, streamlined housekeeping and maintenance, and advanced guest data analytics.<\/p>\n

For example, Choice Hotels, an avid adopter of technology, uses AI<\/a> to streamline processes in a network of over 7,500 properties worldwide. The hotel group also runs an annual tech innovation summit<\/a>, encouraging development teams to share knowledge and upgrade their AI and other emerging tech skills in hack-a-thons aimed at designing solutions that can enhance hotel operations.<\/p>\n

Hyper-personalization<\/h4>\n

An AI travel agent may have never been on a real trip, but it still knows how to delight travelers in new ways. Thanks to robust classification capabilities, AI travel apps can identify new patterns in data representing customers\u2019 purchase intentions, stay preferences, and general travel interests. Similar to Netflix, such algorithms can churn out hyper-personalized travel offers based on customers\u2019 past trips, known room preferences, and data from third-party sources.<\/p>\n

Accor<\/a>, for example, uses an AI-powered customer relationship management (CRM) suite with some 400 customer attributes to run deep segmentation and personalize customer communication. According to the company\u2019s CDO Alix Boulnois<\/a>, the solution significantly lifted sales, with revenue from emails increasing threefold.<\/p>\n

Car rentals<\/h3>\n

Whether traveling for business or leisure, car rental customers demand fast, seamless, and often contactless service. To meet these demands, car rental companies use advanced technologies to optimize their processes and minimize costs.<\/p>\n

Vehicle maintenance<\/h4>\n

Vehicle condition is a top priority for any car rental provider. To ensure superb customer experiences, car rental companies invest a lot in inspections, both pre- and post-rental. Enhancing car inspections and maintenance with AI can both accelerate the process and reduce the probability of errors.<\/p>\n

Hertz, a global leader in the car rental industry, is planning to use AI<\/a> in the inspection of cars at airport locations. Their solution includes AI-powered cameras and machine learning algorithms for automated inspections of a car\u2019s body, tires, glass, and undercarriage. Hertz expects this to accelerate vehicle inspections and improve the availability and safety of rental cars.<\/p>\n

Customer service and predictive analytics<\/h4>\n

Data that car rental companies collect over time provides lots of insights into different areas of their operations: customer behavior and preferences; future demand; trends correlated with seasonality, location, events, and competition. AI tools help car rental companies process diverse data and turn it into analytics that can improve business productivity.<\/p>\n

Avis Budget Group took the AI approach<\/a> to operations and implemented intelligent tools to streamline processes and predict customer preferences. The company uses AI to accelerate vehicle pick-up and drop-off, improve customer experience, forecast demand, and optimize fleet management.<\/p>\n

Air travel<\/h3>\n

Aviation is especially dependent on accuracy and timeliness. In addition to dealing with dissatisfied passengers and facing reputational damage, airlines bear material losses from flight delays \u2014 in the US, one minute of flight delay costs about US$100<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Aiming for maximum accuracy, airlines and airports implement technology solutions that help them accelerate their processes and ensure timely operations.<\/p>\n

GenAI-powered chatbots<\/h4>\n

Airlines get lots of customer requests on a daily basis: flight bookings and changes, policy inquiries, baggage tracking, and more. Enhancing a support team with an intelligent chatbot allows airlines to relieve pressure on their agents while simultaneously improving customer satisfaction. Chatbots can shorten the time necessary to handle a request, increasing support efficiency.<\/p>\n

While many are still skeptical about the ability of chatbots to handle customer requests, real-life examples prove that with the right design and implementation, they can become a valuable asset. Air India\u2019s Azure-based chatbot, AI.g<\/a>, can resolve 93% of requests independently, automating a large chunk of passenger service. Powered by generative AI, the chatbot provides accurate answers using a vast database of relevant information and documents.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Discover what GenAI can do for your business.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n Read more<\/span>\n\t\t <\/a><\/div>\n

Improvements to airport performance<\/h4>\n

Large airports struggle with improving efficiency of their flight and passenger handling processes, aiming to maximize timeliness and minimize delays. They often turn to technology to streamline and accelerate everything that happens along the path of getting passengers to their destinations: face recognition and biometrics for security, intelligent sensors for baggage handling, smart airport navigation. AI is lending a hand, too, helping airports process large volumes of data on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

The John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport in New York City, one of the largest airports in the US, uses AI to analyze real-time passenger data<\/a>, including gate locations and wait times at security checkpoints. Such analysis provides insights into ways to identify and eliminate bottlenecks and optimize staff allocation, taking into account peak times. Successful implementation of AI-based efficiency-boosting strategies can help airports maintain efficiency with growing passenger volumes.<\/p>\n

Booking platforms<\/h3>\n

The holiday market is leaning towards online travel agencies and booking apps. The Phocuswright Global Travel Market Report 2024<\/a> estimates that by 2026, about 65% of all travel bookings will be made online. The travel industry is actively exploring technologies that can help companies attract, engage, and retain customers despite the strong competition.<\/p>\n

Itinerary building<\/h4>\n

Artificial intelligence takes holiday planning to a totally new level. From hotel recommendations to suggestions for events, local attractions, and dining options, AI has travelers covered. Moreover, AI can personalize itineraries to the max, taking into account individual preferences and interests.<\/p>\n

For AI-assisted holiday planning, Tripadvisor offers its Trips<\/a> smart planning assistant. Based on a user\u2019s preferences, previous experiences, and specific requests, the tool suggests a variety of destinations, restaurants, tours, and other activities that make a perfect vacation. For those who prefer building their own plans from scratch, Trips supports that option too.<\/p>\n

Fraud prevention<\/h4>\n

Like other industries, travel and hospitality are not safe from fraud. To protect both travel platforms and their customers and ensure the safety of sensitive information, online booking portals implement AI tools to identify suspicious transactions.<\/p>\n

For example, Amadeus, a global airline booking platform, offers Amadeus Fraud Alert<\/a>, a real-time transaction screening service that uses AI to detect suspicious behavior patterns, unauthorized payments, and potential theft. The tool analyzes multiple factors, such as the time and location of bookings, passenger history, and credit card data.<\/p>\n

Hyper-personalized recommendations<\/h4>\n

User data (such as past behavior, browsing and shopping activity, as well as demographics) holds an abundance of insights. AI-driven tools process such data and turn it into analytics that serve as the basis for personalized travel and vacation recommendations.<\/p>\n

This technique is used by Expedia in the Romie<\/a> AI-powered assistant. Romie leverages AI to take the stress out of vacation planning and helps users with personalized recommendations based on their data. From price comparison to guest reviews, Romie can provide all the necessary information about future holidays and even support users should any disruption occur.<\/p>\n

How generative AI transforms travel businesses and their customer experiences<\/h2>\n

\"AI<\/p>\n

AI in travel and hospitality: Emerging trends<\/h2>\n

Soon, AI won\u2019t just support hospitality operations \u2014 it will be the invisible engine that designs, adapts, and perfects each guest\u2019s entire journey, almost like having a personal butler powered by data, empathy, and predictive intelligence.<\/p>\n