Online booking giants are reportedly taking steps to counter the encroachment of AI agents.<\/p>\n
As the Financial Times (FT)\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0Tuesday (Sept. 9), this means forging partnerships with companies such as OpenAI to gain a foothold as artificial intelligence (AI) offers travelers a way to arrange trips and lodging.<\/p>\n According to the FT,\u00a0Booking.com<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Expedia<\/a>\u00a0are deploying new AI-enabled features using models from\u00a0OpenAI<\/a>\u00a0to automate services and launch tools such as trip planners. And\u00a0Airbnb<\/a>\u00a0has debuted an\u00a0AI-powered customer service agent<\/a> to handle customer queries, with plans to roll out more \u201cagentic\u201d functions on its platform next year.<\/p>\n The FT notes that these moves are happening as\u00a0AI agents<\/a>, autonomous bots that can perform actions on a user\u2019s behalf, can now make arrangements for travelers based on their preferences, a potential threat to the $1.6 billion travel industry and to online travel agents.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t have to do what OpenAI,\u00a0Google<\/a>,\u00a0Grok<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Meta<\/a>\u00a0are doing\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.[all of whom] are having to invest incredible amounts of money to build these models,\u201d\u00a0Glenn Fogel<\/a>, CEO of Booking Holdings, which owns Priceline<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Booking.com, told the FT.<\/p>\n \u201cOur belief is that as long as we\u2009\u2026\u2009work closely with them that we will be able to participate in a way that provides a great return for our customers and our partners,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Kayak CEO\u00a0Steve Hafner<\/a>\u00a0spoke with PYMNTS earlier this year about his company\u2019s plans to launch AI agents to help customers with everything from searching for trip ideas to completing checkout.<\/p>\n \u201cOne thing Kayak hasn\u2019t done as well as search is booking,\u201d Hafner said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had to\u00a0hand people off<\/a>\u00a0to airline or hotel websites or online travel agencies to complete the booking. With agentic AI, we can actually facilitate that without the consumer ever having to leave the Kayak experience.\u201d<\/p>\n That interview came in the wake of a PYMNTS Intelligence report,\u00a0\u201cAt Your Service: Generative AI Arrives in Travel and Hospitality<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Research from that report showed that 52% of customers expect AI to help with interactions, while 44% think it will improve guest engagement.<\/p>\n