ChatGPT for business travel

Much of the talk so far about ChatGPT and generative artificial intelligence in travel has been about travel planning and personalization.

But the world of corporate travel is also looking at how to improve internal productivity and external customer experience.

In a ChatGPT session at the Cvent Travel Summit 2023 virtual event this week, speakers explored the many use cases of corporate travel.

Gant Travel Management CEO Patrick Linnihan said he saw what the technology could do for human resources and implemented the technology as soon as the buzz started.

“I asked my executive assistant about writing something in the human resources field. What if I passed it first on ChatGPT? I said. Imagine every member of your team has an assistant. I put together my working hours and added them to my time. And now, if you’re using the free version of ChatGPT, it’s available at a very low cost. “

Linnihan, who was discussing the technology with Norm Rose, senior technology and enterprise market analyst at Phocuswright, said he doesn’t believe AI will replace people in the travel and events space. “But someone who knows how to use AI will probably replace you,” he said.

In addition to productivity gains, Linnihan highlights how AI will increase potential pre-existing biases towards specific suppliers in travel contracts, giving travel managers and event planners more insight into travel management contracts. I urge you to read carefully.

Additionally, the AI ​​will start asking pertinent questions from the beginning of travel bookings, he said.

“It’s going to look as seamless as you’ve ever seen it,” Linnihan said. [that] Because the machine is trying to figure out what the goal is and even the questions it asks you will be biased. It seems like “

beat the skeptics

Rose is concerned that skeptics may discredit the technology, and travel managers and travel management companies are taking a wait-and-see approach to experimenting and implementing ChatGPT and other similar technologies. will take But Linnihan said the industry will be forced to look outside for solutions as consumers “benchmark Amazon and Netflix in their experience.”

“Other industries, which are less fragmented than travel, are leveraging AI and especially technologies like ChatGPT to provide benchmark quality interactions for travel,” he said. “That’s the big picture of what happens here.”

He also said companies should amass “ammunition to counter the skeptics” and present revenue opportunities.

Another use case is AI that helps unify increasingly fragmented corporate travel content and data.

“ChatGPT and other AI can help brokers reach the technological perfection they seek. Brokers are looking for the most efficient tools to serve their clients and this tool What we can do is… bring options that are harder to come by on current platforms and that will raise the bar. We foresee providers entering the corporate travel space at a higher rate.”

Rose’s vision, on the other hand, is for the industry to move from a search and rate model to an acquisition model. He predicted more integration between booking tools like Microsoft Teams and his platform for collaboration.

“I mean, this meeting is coming up. It’s on my calendar. There will come a point where I’ll be asked, ‘Would you like to book a trip, please?'” Rose said. With you and your preferences, and enough automation behind it, we can look at a variety of sources to come up with the most closely matching itinerary. “

According to Linnihan, the Kayak ChatGPT plugin and the possibility of including OpenTable content is proof that it’s happening.

“Kayak is aggressively entering the corporate market. We’ve found that creating user interfaces that start leveraging other aspects we know corporate travelers use in a more seamless way Demographics are driving this… There is a generation of travelers who want to communicate in a different way than they appear [baby] The baby boomer generation told us. The interesting thing about these platforms is that they succeed with less information. The more concise you are, the more likely you are to get a prompt response. You may not get the right answer the first time, but this generation is happy to say, “No, it’s not.” try again. ‘”

The ultimate use case for generative AI will likely come from hotel selection requests to the proposal process, Linnihan said, adding that within two years, “we will have an AI-powered or ChatGPT-powered RFP process for hotels. will come true,” he predicted.