Booking.com wants AI to act like a human travel agent. Here’s what it's getting wrong

Artificial intelligence is transforming the way consumers plan and book travel, but will this evolving technology one day replace actual humans?  

Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel thinks so. In fact, the executive thinks AI will eventually do everything a travel advisor can do – but better.

Subsidiary Booking.com launched its first AI trip planner in June 2023, leaning into the power of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, as the chatbot boom took off.

Using the tool, travellers can search, filter, and get questions answered about destinations and hotels faster than they used to on the site or on a call with customer service.

Appearing as a guest in the latest episode of Quartz AI Factor, a video series set at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York, Fogel explained that integrating AI into Booking.com was a “kind of obvious” choice.

But the full potential of AI, as a travel and activity-planning tool, has yet to be reached, he went on to say.

“What we really want is, as I say, to recreate the effect of dealing with a human being,” the CEO said.

Robots taking over   

As PAX has reported many times, artificial intelligence unlocks all kinds of time-saving benefits when it comes to travel planning.

Today’s tools are capable of generating detailed itineraries, based on a clients’ needs, wants, likes and budget, in a matter of seconds.

And it’s no secret that travel advisors themselves are leveraging these tools to improve the efficiency of their operations in meaningful ways.

READ MORE: How four travel pros are using AI to improve their operations & save time

But is AI capable of replacing an actual travel advisor? At Booking Holdings, which includes other OTAs like Priceline and Kayak, the goal is to allow customers to “go back and forth just like you used to do with a human travel agent,” Fogel said.

The next iteration of Booking’s AI trip planner, it appears, is rooted in customization and a general awareness of environments.  

“For example, using AI, you decide that you want to take a boat tour in Amsterdam and you’ve arranged it all,” Fogel said. “We will have AI saying: ‘It’s two days before your boat ride. It looks like it’s going to rain. We’re going to suggest that we change your boat ride for another day, for Friday from Thursday. And Thursday, we’d like to suggest that you spend the day in the rice museum with indoor while it’s raining outside.’”

The future of Booking’s AI platform is also about creating a synthetic world of customer service.

In September, another one of Booking’s companies, OpenTable, announced that it will begin using Salesforce’s (CRM) AI agent Agentforce to respond to customer inquiries.

This technology, for example, has made it easier for customers to deal with service problems and interactions with restaurants, Fogel said.

The CEO thinks AI could eliminate frictions that sometimes arise between diners and restaurants.

“Eventually, I do believe you’ll call a restaurant... and you’ll think you’re talking to a human being,” he said. “You’re not talking to human being. You’re talking to an AI agent. It sounds like a human. It acts like a human. The one difference is it doesn’t get angry at you ever. It’s always nice. It’s always pleasant.”

Being right vs. getting it right 

The argument that technology will one day replace human travel advisors is not new. The travel trade profession has been warned of its demise, time and time again, ever since the internet went mainstream in the 1990s.

And, time and time again, travel professionals have proved the naysayers wrong.

The human touch that was required during the COVID-19 shutdown is just one recent example of the value in using a human travel advisor.

While AI certainly unlocks a world of possibilities (which shouldn’t be ignored), its effectiveness brings to mind the old leadership adage: “It's not about being right, it's about getting it right.”

Making a travel reservation on the internet, through an app, or by using an AI-powered platform, is the easy part. On the surface, these revolutionary tools appear as “right things” that make our lives easier.   

But getting it right is a whole other story.

This is where the power of human travel advisors shines through. It’s the qualified professionals, through extensive client consultation and product training, who truly tap into a traveller's unique and individual needs, wants and desires.

Artificial intelligence presents a wealth of ideas, but does it offer a human connection that make customers feel seen and valued? This is where Booking Holdings is getting it wrong.

As PAX has previously written, can a robot create a customized experience that isn’t in the brochure, specific to a client’s interests, with exclusive perks? Can it plan a wedding for a group of 200 people, from multiple countries, in a chateau in the French countryside? Or how about a full-day food tour in Portugal?

Maybe. But can AI properly vet a venue, or a tour guide, for that special day? Does it know if tours truly run in small groups, or if money generated by tourism actually benefits locals?

AI doesn’t know which way the light falls in a five-star suite at an all-inclusive resort at sunrise. Or why a family of five with small kids are better off at Resort B instead of Resort A.

Has artificial intelligence ever tried a water slide or felt an ocean breeze? Has it tasted a spicy taco in Mexico?

And if (and when) things go wrong, like if a strike shuts down an airport, or if the borders of a country suddenly close, can a robot navigate a crisis like a human travel advisor can?

While AI, impressively, can replicate the nuances of human interactions, it doesn’t have a human heart. Whether a trip is a home run, or an epic fail, technology doesn’t care.  

Human connection is the lifeblood of travel agency success. In this era of reckless shortcuts, biased computer-generated answers and misinformation, there’s never been a better time to “go human.”

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