Robin Lawther, vice president of Expedia TAAP, responds to the emerging questions surrounding AI’s integration in travel operations
You would be hard-pressed to go a day without hearing about AI in the news, from rolling updates to OpenAI (the platform behind ChatGPT) to AI election candidates. Robin Lawther, vice president of Expedia TAAP, knows that the technology "has raised a lot of questions for the travel industry as a whole, and specifically around what it means for travel agents."
"[AI] has raised a lot of questions for the travel industry as a whole..."
Acknowledging that a lot of coverage emerging around the role of AI in travel agents’ future has not been entirely positive, Robin continued, "Given what I have seen so far, AI can be a great enabler for travel agents. I don’t think it’s something that should be feared, so long as it is put to use in the right ways."
What are "the right ways" to integrate AI into travel agent operations?
Robin breaks down the potential of AI integration in travel into three phases, believing it has a different role to play in the planning, booking and support phases of a journey.
"Even if you are a travel agent who knows a destination inside out, AI can still be leveraged to give you an even better understanding around, let’s say, spikes in demand or informing better times to travel to make an itinerary better-informed or smarter. It could say ‘Actually, maybe if you postponed your trip for a week, the destination will be less busy or cheaper.’
"For people newer to the industry, I think it will probably have more benefit on that planning side of getting them familiar with different destinations and understanding common itineraries and how you might differentiate a trip for a 30-year-old versus a 60-year-old, understanding what those different demographics might do."
When it comes to the booking phase, where various suppliers are involved in different stages of a journey from flights to transfers and accommodation, Robin believes AI can play a "really fantastic" role in creating itineraries "in a clear, coherent and presentable manner for your travellers."
'AI can play a "really fantastic" role in creating itineraries "in a clear, coherent and presentable manner..."'
In terms of support, Robin notes that "travel is complicated. There are always going to be issues with trip support... I don't think that will ever go away.
"There are so many external factors that can influence a trip. That is where travel agents really prove their value and earn their clients' loyalty. This stage is a great opportunity for AI, where we're already seeing benefits, with increased automation to reduce support times, potentially reducing the need for an agent to pick up the phone and instead getting them solutions much faster.
"If I put all three of those phases together (planning, booking and support), one of the key benefits that emerge is the ability to protect an agent's precious time... a lot of benefits associated with AI come down to time saving. Agents can use this to their advantage, really helping them to be a lot more efficient at their job. Whether that means they can take on more customers or reduce their 50-hour working week to a 35-hour one, the benefits are already emerging."
"One of the key benefits that emerge is the ability to protect an agent's precious time..."
"That will keep evolving over time as it becomes more sophisticated and more use cases emerge that AI can be leveraged for."
How is Expedia Group testing and rolling out AI solutions – and how does TAAP benefit from that?
When it comes to Expedia Group itself, Robin notes that the organisation "is still in a testing phase" when it comes to AI and that the group’s other platforms are largely a testing ground for TAAP integrations.
"One benefit of TAAP is that we're part of a much bigger organisation. If we were a standalone business, we wouldn't have that kind of firepower behind us to test AI and understand what tools and technologies we should build for the future of the platform.
"What we typically do, unless it is something that is really specific to travel agents and therefore unique to TAAP in the Expedia Group, is to roll it out across one or multiple brands across the Expedia Group. Then, we will start to look at where and why they are seeing positive results and decide whether that is applicable to travel agents.
"We are in a really beneficial position to be able to pick and choose."
Where should agents start their AI journey?
"I encourage agents to think about where, if they take a typical day, they are spending most of their time and energy. There are already benefits to exploring these tools in the earlier stage of the funnel, around planning.
"For those who have been working in the industry a little longer, and understand these destinations inside-out and maybe sell one specific sector or holiday type, there might be admin that can be reduced (time-wise) by AI.
"Only when more people start testing these systems, and applying due diligence to their results, will we have greater feedback to develop future tools and integration."
Robin Lawther is vice president of Expedia TAAP.
