Expedia, the travel giant, is expanding its use of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance its suite of products and improve the customer experience. The CEO, Peter Kern, believes that by providing advanced tools and technology, Expedia can create the best product experience and increase customer loyalty. One of their new AI features is Project Explorer, an upgraded version of their chatbot, which curates trips based on budget, location, time of year, and interest. Additionally, Expedia will utilize generative AI to sift through reviews and property listings, allowing users to ask specific questions and receive immediate responses. These innovative developments aim to streamline the trip planning process and accelerate bookings.
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Expedia’s Project Explorer
Introduction
Expedia, the popular travel giant, is investing heavily in artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance its customer experience and drive consumer loyalty. CEO Peter Kern believes that incorporating AI technology into their suite of products will provide the best product experience and set Expedia apart from its competitors. In an exclusive interview with Fast Company, Kern discusses the importance of leveraging new technology and innovative tools to meet the evolving needs of travelers.
Expanding AI Features on Expedia
Expedia has been actively integrating generative AI features into its platform over the past few months. In April, it introduced an OpenAI-powered chatbot on its iOS app to provide users with guidance on trip planning and activities. Building on the success of this initial venture, Expedia is launching a tech incubator that allows customers to access beta features and provide feedback. The first offering from this incubator is the updated chatbot experience called Project Explorer. Project Explorer uses AI to curate personalized trips based on factors such as budget, location, time of year, and user interests.
New Tech Incubator
The introduction of the tech incubator signifies Expedia’s commitment to embracing innovation and integrating the latest technology into its platform. By giving customers early access to beta features and soliciting feedback, Expedia aims to refine and improve its offerings to better cater to customer needs and preferences. This initiative reflects Expedia’s dedication to staying at the forefront of the travel industry and delivering an exceptional user experience.
Project Explorer: Updated Chatbot Experience
Project Explorer represents a significant enhancement to Expedia’s chatbot feature. This updated version provides users with more guidance, addressing common pain points and uncertainties that travelers often encounter during the trip planning process. By curating personalized trip options based on various criteria, Expedia aims to ensure that travelers have a hassle-free and enjoyable experience.
Curating Trips Based on Budget and Time of Year
One of the key features of Project Explorer is its ability to curate trips based on budget and time of year. Expedia recognizes that travelers have different financial constraints and scheduling preferences, and it aims to cater to these individual needs. By leveraging AI technology, Expedia can analyze vast amounts of data and provide users with tailored travel options that fit their specific budgets and desired travel times. This personalized approach sets Expedia apart from traditional travel planning platforms and enhances the overall customer experience.
Enhanced Capabilities for Discovery
Expedia acknowledges that travelers often struggle with knowing what questions to ask or how to proceed after receiving a response from the chatbot. To address this challenge, Expedia has enhanced its capabilities to facilitate discovery. Project Explorer is designed to guide travelers through the trip planning process by providing insightful recommendations and suggestions. By leveraging AI technology, Expedia can offer travelers a more seamless and intuitive experience, helping them make informed decisions and maximizing their overall satisfaction.
Generative AI for Reviews and Property Listings
Expedia is now utilizing generative AI to sift through reviews and property listings in response to user questions or prompts. Traditionally, travelers had to navigate through numerous reviews and pages to find specific information about hotels or properties. Expedia’s generative AI eliminates the need for such extensive manual searching by providing users with conversational responses to their queries. Whether travelers are curious about the availability of strong Wi-Fi or the presence of coffee machines in each room, Expedia’s AI-powered system can quickly and efficiently provide the desired information, streamlining the booking process.
Conversational Response to Questions and Prompts
Expedia’s AI technology enables users to pose questions or prompts in a conversational manner, mimicking a natural conversation between a traveler and a knowledgeable guide. This conversational approach adds a personal touch to the user experience, allowing travelers to obtain relevant information in a manner that feels more intuitive and engaging. By utilizing generative AI, Expedia aims to facilitate efficient communication and enhance customer satisfaction.
Condensing Information from Reviews
Parsing through numerous reviews can be a time-consuming and overwhelming task for travelers. To address this issue, Expedia’s AI technology condenses information from reviews, providing users with quick summaries that highlight key details. Rather than spending hours reading through numerous reviews, travelers can access concise summaries that capture relevant information. This feature empowers travelers to make more informed decisions and accelerates the booking process.
Closing Bookings Faster
Expedia’s adoption of AI technology throughout its platform aims to streamline the booking process and expedite transactions. By leveraging generative AI to summarize reviews, provide personalized recommendations, and offer efficient responses to user queries, Expedia can deliver a more efficient and user-friendly experience. The integration of AI technology plays a crucial role in closing bookings faster, allowing travelers to accomplish their booking goals with ease and convenience.
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Expedia’s Trip-Planning Feature
Planning, Coordinating, and Booking
Expedia’s trip-planning feature revolutionizes the way travelers coordinate and book their trips. Through the Expedia platform, as well as its subsidiary brands Hotels.com and Vrbo, users can seamlessly plan and organize their entire itinerary. From flights and accommodations to activities and car rentals, Expedia’s trip-planning feature consolidates all essential aspects of travel planning into a single, user-friendly interface.
Single Itinerary on Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo
One of the primary advantages of Expedia’s trip-planning feature is the ability to consolidate all bookings into a single itinerary. This means that regardless of whether users book through Expedia, Hotels.com, or Vrbo, all travel details will be conveniently accessible from one centralized location. This streamlined approach eliminates the hassle of managing multiple confirmation emails and reservations, providing travelers with a more organized and efficient experience.
Voting and Commenting on Group Itineraries
Expedia’s trip-planning feature also caters to group travelers. Within the platform, groups can collaboratively plan and coordinate itineraries by voting and commenting on various aspects such as hotels, activities, flights, and car rentals. This feature fosters a sense of shared decision-making and allows travelers to customize their group itinerary to accommodate individual preferences. By enabling interactive collaboration, Expedia ensures that group travelers have a seamless and enjoyable planning experience.
Potential Future Feature: Split Payments
While currently not available, Expedia is exploring the possibility of introducing a split payment feature for group itineraries. This potential feature would allow each group member to individually pay for their portion of the trip, simplifying the financial logistics of group travel. Split payments would eliminate the need for one person to front the entire cost of the trip and subsequently collect reimbursement from others. By continuing to innovate and respond to customer needs, Expedia remains committed to enhancing the group travel experience.
Expedia’s Product Offerings
Stronger Focus on Product Offerings
Expedia recognizes the importance of continually expanding its product offerings to provide travelers with a comprehensive and tailored experience. With a stronger focus on innovation and technological advancements, Expedia aims to deliver more value-added features and services to its customers.
Rapid Innovation and Acceleration
Expedia’s commitment to rapid innovation sets it apart from its competitors. The travel giant is dedicated to accelerating the development and deployment of new features and services, ensuring that its platform remains at the forefront of the industry. By leveraging the latest technology and constantly exploring new possibilities, Expedia aims to revolutionize the way travelers plan, book, and experience their trips.
Conclusion
Expedia’s integration of AI technology, exemplified by Project Explorer, showcases its unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction and innovation. The expanded AI features, trip-planning capabilities, and focus on product offerings underscore Expedia’s dedication to providing travelers with a seamless and personalized experience. As the travel industry continues to evolve, Expedia’s use of AI serves as a testament to its ongoing efforts to remain a leader in the field and deliver exceptional value to its customers.
