Most people like to travel. But far fewer enjoy reservation.
A survey of more than 2,400 people who book their own travel arrangements found that 71 percent say the process is at least somewhat stressful for them, according to a 2024 survey by consumer data firm CivicScience. The rate is even higher among parents of children and teenagers, the survey found.
Trip planning can involve a painstaking slog through booking sites, star ratings, travel reviews and the fine print — first to figure out what to book, then to find the best price available.
AI is set to change that, with ChatGPT already proving that genetic AI can provide routes and recommendations in seconds.
But Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel told CNBC Travel that he wants to “get over” that.
Instead of letting travelers plan their trips from scratch, Fogel said, he wants Bookings’ brands — which include Booking.com, Agoda, Kayak, Priceline and OpenTable — to anticipate their needs.
“I want us to go to the traveler and say, ‘Hey, we think, given everything we know, that you’re probably thinking about wanting to go to, say, Naples, Italy. And using all the data we have, everything we know about our customers, what they might want, trying to start that conversation.”
“That’s the difference,” he said.
In fact, travelers with preferences — say, for connecting rooms, baby cribs or high floors in hotels — wouldn’t have to repeatedly ask for these extras because AI would have predicted the request.
“It’s just like it was many, many years ago when there was a human travel agent that people dealt with and that travel agent knew everything about you,” he said. But “technology can do much better than a human travel agent ever could.”
Genetic AI should also grow with travelers as they age, Fogel said, as they transition from post-graduation trips to Ibiza in their 20s to trips to Disney World in their 30s.
“He should know all about you,” Fogel said.
For example, the first time someone asks for a high chair will indicate that the traveler likely had a child and will therefore need similar seats for future bookings, he said.
one-stop booking
On average, travelers spent more than five hours – reading about 141 travel-related websites – in the 45 days before booking their trips, according to The Expedia Group”The road to marketExhibition, held with Luth Research.
But it’s not fantastic to book entire trips — from accommodations and flights to activities and meals — all in one sitting, Fogel said.
But “I still want more. I want proposals coming my way,” he said.
“Let’s say I’m taking a very luxurious trip to London,” he said. “Our genetic AI, for example, will say there’s this great steak place in Mayfair that we think you’d like [based on prior bookings]. And by the way, they’d like to offer you an incredible discount on those beautiful red wines that we know you love. The personalization will be simply fantastic.”
How far?
Everyone wants to know when these new advanced design tools will be available, Fogel said.
But as with all revolutionary technologies, “hype is always far ahead of actual use.”
Fogel said he may not know when, but he does know how those tools will arrive.
“It will be gradual, step by step. New services will be added, new products will be added,” he said. “More and more information will be in our models and we will know more and be able to provide better services.”
The company has developed a productive artificial intelligence service on Booking.com called “Trip Planner,” which is currently in beta, Fogel said.
Still, “it just gives you a little taste of what the future is going to be,” he said.
As for when the simple, all-in-one design will arrive, “I can guarantee you it won’t happen tomorrow,” he said. “But it will come. I know that.”
