Dive Brief:

• Expedia and Kayak have partnered with OpenAI’s AI-powered ChatGPT chatbot to provide users with trip itineraries including flights and accommodations, according to a press release.
• The AI technology — with access to Expedia’s and Kayak’s travel data — brings “more personalized and intuitive search experiences,” Kayak said in a statement. 
• The companies are the first major players in the travel industry to integrate ChatGPT technology, which will be rolled out gradually to test the safety systems. 

Dive Insight:

Although travel providers have been experimenting with AI for years to remove friction from the travel-planning process, ChatGPT represents the next evolution of the technology, effectively acting as a virtual travel assistant that can respond to natural-language inquiries like “I’m looking for a hotel in New York City that’s close to Central Park.”

“What a large language model like ChatGPT does is enable a traveler to plan their next trip by simply starting a conversation,” said Rathi Murthy, chief technology officer at Expedia Group. “With the Expedia plugin, the traveler will now have access to up-to-date information on the availability and price of flights, hotels, vacation rentals, activities and car rentals across the world during that conversation.” 

While the chatbot will help users ideate a trip, booking a specific hotel or flight will still happen directly through Expedia’s website, Murthy noted. 

“When [users] are ready to shop and book, they’ll go straight through to Expedia because travelers care about the details, like the size of a hotel room, and they want to see options personalized for them, along with exclusive member deals and rewards,” Murthy said. 

Large-scale access to the ChatGPT plugin will gradually roll out over time, Murthy said, adding that the slow rollout aligns with OpenAI’s philosophy of iterative deployment — allowing the company to learn from the plugin’s real-world use and improve its safety systems. Meanwhile, Booking Holdings-owned Kayak said ChatGPT Plus subscribers will be the first with access to the integration. Kayak sister brand OpenTable has also partnered with ChatGPT.

While both brands have a long history of using AI technologies to streamline the travel planning experience — Kayak was among the first to adopt Alexa and Siri Shortcuts, for example — the industry is watching closely to see how ChatGPT will change travelers’ user habits and decision-making.