AI chatbots are changing online travel scenario
Artificial Intelligence ( AI) is fast transforming human interactions as well as business processes across industries. Dhruv Raj Gupta, CEO and Co- founder of Tripshelf, feels that the travel and hospitality industry is also enthusiastically embracing AI, largely for the latter’s capacity to perform conventional human functions faster and more efficiently. Using AI can often result in seamless and friction- less experiences for the end- users and huge cost savings for business owners, like us.
According to a recent report by Google and BCG, travel consumers spend an average of 49 minutes spread over 46 days, visiting as many as 17 different online sites to plan, research and make a booking. Clearly, the travel consumer who is most likely a holiday seeker is wasting a lot of time gathering information from a variety of sources and processing it. This information covers multiple aspects of the travel, from destinations and travel options to duration and pricing. A chatbot can make this whole process simpler and efficient to the point where a customer can complete all her research and book a dream holiday in a matter of minutes.
Leading travel portals across the world have launched their own chatbots. Skyscanner’s Messenger bo helps travellers search and book flights in less time than their website. In I n d i a , chat b o t s s e r v e a n o t h e r important purpose. Travel for Indians often involves a high amount of emotional and financial investments. When they have real- time interaction with chatbots on a travel portal, customers often feel rewarded with just the right kind of real- time assistance— something they would have experienced while sitting across a human travel agent in her office. This simulation of an agent- customer interaction via a chatbot has actually helped Indian online travel portals build trust with their customers and in turn generate higher lead conversion and retention.
In fact, online travel marketplaces like TripShelf, ixigo and others have already invested in chatbots — which is a far cry from self- service mandated by conventional travel portals. As more travellers talk to chatbots for lodging, airfare and travel research, the bots, in turn, are able to capture valuable customer insights that can help them become even more intelligent and deliver a more personalized customer experience. With chatbot integration, the line between real and virtual interactions has blurred. As we go along though, the chatbots will become more human- like with an engaging personality and ability to provide comprehensive research and inform a t i o n w i t h i n seconds; s o m e - thing that a human a g e n t w o u l d h a v e t a k e n minutes if not hours.