Built on Booking.com's current machine learning models, which they recommend every day destinations and accommodation options to millions of travelers on the platform, the AI Trip Planner also builds on the Large Language Model (LLM) technology of OpenAI's ChatGPT API to create a new interactive experience for those who want to plan their trips.
A new way to search and explore on Booking.com
Users can ask the AI Trip Planner anything about their trip, and can query it very specifically about all stages of its planning, starting from searching for potential destinations and accommodation options based on your needs and requirements, right down to creating itineraries for specific cities, towns or regions.
Travel tips more personalized and contextualised
Travelers can chat with the AI Trip Planner to explain what they are looking for in broad or more specific terms, and can ask questions and refine their search in real time, resulting in numerous alternative options in seconds. From finding inspiration for a romantic beach vacation in the Caribbean to finding a list of vacation homes with air conditioning and a pool for a family of four, the AI Trip Planner provides recommendations quickly and easily.
An integrated trip planning experience
The AI Trip Planner takes the trip planning process one step further by providing travelers with a visual list of destinations and accommodation, including pricing information from Booking.com, providing the ability to access other web pages to view additional details. Users can scroll through the chat with Booking.com's AI Trip Planner and app interface as they evaluate their options. With a simple click on an accommodation of their interest, they can complete the booking. This is because the AI Trip Planner is directly integrated within the Booking.com app, in the accommodation booking section.
"Our main goal at Booking.com has always been to leverage technology to make travel easier" said Glenn Fogel, CEO of Booking.com. "Recent developments in generative AI are accelerating the work we began many years ago on machine learning, with the aim of improving all aspects of the customer experience on our platform, whether it's optimizing the right order in which photos are displayed a hotel, or to surface the most relevant reviews. Our new AI Trip Planner is simply the natural continuation of our path – still in progress – to bring even more value, and fun, when planning your holidays".
"Our new AI Trip Planner offers us some really interesting possibilities to help our customers search for travel options and plan in a very natural and human way", he has declared Rob Francis, CTO of Booking.com. "People are often asked to adapt to technology in order to do what they want, but with generative AI we are able to start having direct conversations with our customers on their terms: it's just like we can start talking about a holiday with your partner or friends. It's just the beginning, but we have many avenues to explore to further innovate and connect the travel experience on Booking.com, all in a safe, ethical and inclusive way".
Starting June 28, the AI Trip Planner in beta is available in USA for a selection of Booking.com Genius members, a number that will grow in the coming weeks. This means US travelers must be signed in to their Booking.com account directly in the app and have their language set to English to be able to access the new trip planning tool.
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