How AI Bookings Will Rewrite the Travel Company Playbook

Five ways to gain traction in the agentic AI era

Incumbent travel companies still have an opportunity to shape AI adoption. They can even emerge as winners if they go beyond a use-case-by-use-case approach and deploy AI programmatically in line with their enterprise strategy. The following moves can help them gain traction.

1. Build an AI agent

We don’t think one all-purpose AI agent will dominate bookings. That means most travel companies should build their own agent(s) to navigate their products and services in close collaboration with other agents adopted by the consumer. Incumbents will also need to decide whether to follow the agentic AI standards set by tech leaders or try to set their own.

2. Transform the interface

Travel companies need to become a traveler’s eyes and ears—deploying AI to help them curate exhaustive lists of possibilities into manageable options. They must also prepare to handle new workflows created by agent-to-agent or consumer-to-agent interactions, while accommodating new modes of payment.

3. Earn travelers’ trust

Travelers are still getting comfortable with AI accessing their data. To secure their trust, travel companies need to obey strict rules on data collection and storage, while obtaining data directly from travelers as much as possible. Transparency, control, communication, and consent should be the watchwords.

4. Modernize loyalty

Tomorrow’s winners will strengthen their loyalty programs so that earning and spending rewards is as seamless and competitive as possible, regardless of provider—protecting direct and indirect business in this world of new channels. They’ll also use AI to make rewards more dynamic and personalized.

5. Hyperpersonalize

In return for their data, travelers will expect real-time, bespoke offers and support. Travel companies must build infrastructure to collect and organize the rich data needed for such hyperpersonalization, while staying ahead of rapid changes in traveler behavior.