The Google AI (Artificial Intelligence) won last year the Go-game against one of the best (human) players of this complex board game. It’s a sign that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is slowly growing out of its infancy. Today we see many positive effects of the technology. AI allows a quick service that’s more accurate and personal. Many experts expect AI to cause revolutionary changes in different industries. So I was wondering: what can it do for the industry of business travel? For example, we get thousands of phone calls a day from people who only want information about their trip. How can AI help us with that in the future? There are plenty of B2C examples, but can they also be used in B2B?
What is AI?
Artificial Intelligence is the science that enables computers to perform tasks that require human intelligence. For a long time, AI was the subject of science fiction writers, but it’s now a science fact. Think of virtual assistants like Apple’s Siri, or Google Now and Watson of IBM.
It all started with the Internet
The Internet caused a revolution in the travel industry. Once travel operators were omniscient intermediaries. The Internet caused a shift in power. Nowadays, business travelers can search for all travel options themselves and gain knowledge to make well informed decisions.
And then came AI
Despite doom predictions about disappearing jobs, like those of travel agents, we see that experts don’t disappear, on the contrary even. Not all business travelers have time or want to search and book themselves. Many people still prefer the advice and intervention of others. And that’s precisely the biggest added value of AI: lots of information is being processed into concrete advice, tailored to the traveler, thanks to insight in his profile, travel history, and airline and hotel preferences. With AI handling some of the basic tasks and answers, it frees up travel agents to dedicate themselves to the more complex tasks that deliver the highest added value to our clients and travelers.
Many suppliers already use AI in a creative way. Here are some examples:
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Via a Facebook Messenger chatbot, travelers can ask for information about their booking, boarding pass, flight status and notifications. Via messenger they can also directly contact KLM. That path is also interesting for us. Even more: we’re working on its development right now.
Hilton
The global luxury hotel chain is testing Connie, a robot concierge developed by IBM Watson and Wayblazer. The robot answers questions of guests about facilities, services and local attractions. The more interaction Connie has with guests, the more the robot learns, adapts and improves her recommendations. Useful if you have only little time between your meetings to also see something of your destination.
This is just the beginning
Artificial Intelligence in the travel sector is already offering travelers quite some advantages. The question is if it’s possible to use the B2C approach also in B2B. I think it is. Whether you book a holiday or a business trip, buy a book or purchase a professional service, you always have to deal with customers who need an answer to their questions. AI can certainly be used for that. You can even go a step further: also employees, in this context, can be seen as customers. So why not support internal processes with AI? It seems clear to me that the developments will go on, and I think that’s great. In my business, AI will make a business trip more efficient, more relevant and less time consuming. So travelers can truly do what they’re traveling for: focus on the business, without stress.
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