As part of its annual event, Expedia Group unveiled its new tools powered by artificial intelligence for travelers and its partners.
The year 2024 is undoubtedly that of the development of artificial intelligence in the tourism sector. That’s why AI has an important place at the Expedia group’s annual event this year.
Romie, the new personal assistant
Expedia Group introduced Romie, its travel assistant that puts travelers in “autopilot” mode. An assistant that “helps you plan, buy, book and even gives you help in case of unexpected changes during a trip,” explains the group. Thanks to machine learning and personalization, Romie gets smarter and smarter with every interaction. She remembers the type of travel you like, whether you prefer Italian cuisine and luxury hotels or an afternoon of hiking in nature.
It is possible to interact with Romie in several ways:
- Plan a trip in a group chat: It is possible to add the assistant to an SMS chat so that it analyzes holiday plans. If you need advice, Romie suggests where to go or what to do, just like you would with a travel agent.
- Explore: Romie can summarize your group discussion and incorporate what she learned about your trip directly into your Expedia shopping experience. Then it is possible to add your own filters.
- Create an itinerary: Romie can extract travel information from your emails and suggest restaurants and activities near your hotel.
- Dealing with the unexpected: Romie can help solve problems when things don’t go as planned. It checks for weather changes or last-minute disruptions that may affect your travel plans and suggests alternatives that work for you.
- Update information: During your trip, Romie updates the route in real time and can answer travel questions, such as what time one of the group members will land.
Currently, the personal assistant is available through EG Labs, Expedia Group’s experimental platform where US travelers can research, experiment and provide feedback on new products.
Video illustrating Romie’s integration into an SMS conversation:
A first in the travel industry
The personal assistant developed by Expedia Group is a first in the travel industry. He is the most advanced assistant in the sector to date. The companies working on this kind of experience are GAFAM like Google or Meta. The latter is in the process of developing the next generation of assistants in the group’s messaging systems. Depending on the topic, users will be able to chat with an assistant embedded in the messaging system. With Romie, the Expedia group is therefore playing in the big leagues.
But this idea of a personal assistant that allows you to plan, book and manage unforeseen events is not so new in the sector. In 2015, a startup then called Path travel unveiled Sam, an intelligent assistant for business travelers. It already made it possible to chat with artificial intelligence through instant messaging. Through partnerships with commercial travel agencies, Sam has made it possible to find alternatives when your flight is cancelled, book a VTC or simply know the weather forecast for the next day. For complex procedures, the assistant transferred to a travel agent. The startup was later acquired by FCM Travel.
Other AI-enhanced features for travelers
The Expedia group also announced new features for travelers this summer thanks to the use of AI:
Personalized itinerary creator: Travelers will be able to create personalized itineraries for their upcoming trips based on AI-generated recommendations, directly from the Expedia app in the US.
Clearer Help Center: Available now, the Help Center for Expedia and Hotels.com in the US has been updated. AI helps travelers find answers to their questions more easily.
Destination Comparison: New generative artificial intelligence tools will help travelers discover and compare new destinations on Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo.
Summary of customer comments: still with generative AI, the group now offers a summary of customer comments upstream, so that you do not have to do this.
Negative review detector for partners
As for travel professionals, the Expedia group announced a new AI-powered feature that will identify recurring negative sentiments in reviews and deliver personalized recommendations to hosts.