Booking.com has launched a string of customer-facing agentic AI innovations.
The OTA giant’s Smart Messenger and Auto-Reply tools are designed to make partner-to-guest communication ‘faster, streamlined, and more intuitive’.
Smart Messenger gathers partner, property, and reservation information to autonomously suggest what the OTA’s accommodation partners should communicate to guests.
Its Auto-Reply feature offers instant responses to common and unique guest questions relevant to their accommodation. Booking says the ‘agent’ is continuously learning from past interactions and user feedback, adapting responses for accuracy and relevance.
The OTA says its early experiments yielded a 73% increase in partner satisfaction compared to previous messaging tools.
The tools can be used in a range of ways, from acting as the first point of contact for customers and voice-activated support to
Booking also offers an AI Trip Support tool which offers 24/7 guidance on some customer service topics, acting as a first point of contact for travellers for common queries.
It has also introduced AI Voice Support, which allows travellers to ask a question verbally and the software pulls up the relevant booking information. This can also be done for human agents, who then save time when working on queries.
Booking’s AI Rental Helper gives answers to common customer questions about car rental bookings.
And its AI-powered Flight Search Summaries offer suggestions to customers booking air travel.
James Waters, chief business officer at Booking.com, said: “Bringing our first in-house agentic AI solutions to market is an exciting milestone and, together with our latest GenAI innovations, we’re making strides on delivering new levels of personalisation and a faster, more seamless platform.
“As we continue to develop travel solutions powered by AI, our focus remains squarely on making it easier for our customers to experience the world and empowering our partners so they can focus on delivering those incredible experiences.”
A Booking.com app has also launched within ChatGPT, allowing users to browse and book its accommodation options on the ChatGPT platform.
