7 Innovative Ways AI Is Revolutionizing Business Travel

While the travel agent on the screen resembled a character from a video game, it handled travel booking queries with impressive speed and accuracy. Powered by generative artificial intelligence (AI), Serko's Zeno computer travel agent guides through relevant hotel options for an upcoming trip with remarkable efficiency.

It was just one of the many examples showcasing how generative AI is transforming corporate travel. The entire travel technology stack is being revamped with AI, from messaging and policy compliance to expense reporting and rebooking during disruptions.

Here are some of the AI-driven innovations in business travel from leading companies at the convention:

1. Messaging
   "Using Gen AI to respond to traveller queries is crucial because messaging can be an asynchronous channel where the traveller may ask a question and then look at the response 20 minutes later before asking a follow-up," said John Pelant, EVP and Chief Experience and Technology Officer at CWT, a travel management company.

"Gen AI enhances efficiency by providing prompt answers to standard questions," Pelant added. "However, it's a supplement, and we still rely on travel counsellors with unique insights to address more complex queries."

2. Selecting Travel Options
   Travelport, a technology company that supplies reservation software to travel agents, recently launched the Content Curation Layer (CCL) feature. This AI-powered tool sifts through billions of travel options to find the best matches for customers more quickly than traditional search methods.

Integrated into Travelport’s main platform, the CCL helps travel agents compare flights, hotels, and car rentals faster, providing the most relevant offers for each traveller.

3. Ensuring Compliance
   Amex GBT is developing a Gen AI tool to automatically extract information from a business traveller’s emailed itinerary request.

The goal is to input those details directly into its platform so the online booking tool only shows travel options that comply with the traveller's policy, eliminating the need for manual data entry by an advisor.

4. Streamlining Expenses
   Filing expense reports is a dreaded task for business travellers, but it can be simplified when tools sync properly. Tech integrations allow suppliers like airlines and hotels to send electronic receipts directly to the required expense reports. Ideally, travellers could simply click to submit items via travel management software.

Currently, these integrations are not widespread. This is where Gen AI steps in, outperforming traditional OCR (Optical Character Recognition) by more accurately analyzing pictures of receipts and matching them to the traveller’s input data.

"Gen AI now offers a significantly improved match rate," said Charlie Sultan, President of Concur Travel. "It's a game-changer for reducing the frustrations and delays associated with filing expense reports."

Visa and travel documentation support could also benefit from Gen AI, reducing the need for manual paperwork handling.

5. Recovering from Travel Disruptions
   Altour, a travel management company under Internova Travel Group, introduced new AI-based tools to assist travellers during flight delays or cancellations.

Their AI Predict tool sends predictive alerts about potential disruptions and helpful advice. Meanwhile, the AI Respond tool offers quick responses to requests like booking confirmations and alternative options when rebooking during a disruption.

6. Booking Meeting Venues
   Groupize, a software provider for booking small meetings, recently launched Groupize Pro, an innovative AI-powered product.

Groupize Pro uses AI to gather and present crucial, up-to-date venue information, helping event planners easily track what matters most at various locations.

7. Educating on Travel Policies
   Altour's AI Transform is a tool designed to improve travel program compliance. It enables travel managers to create and update video content featuring lifelike avatars that explain policies compellingly.

Though still in its early stages, the concept holds promise. Travel managers often lack marketing expertise for effectively communicating travel policies. Gen AI-created content could fill this gap, offering the benefit of instant language translation for global corporations.

Others also recognise the potential of AI in simplifying travel policy comprehension and fare rule interpretation.

"Large language models excel at answering questions like, 'Can I fly business class to Paris next week?'" said Sultan from Concur Travel.

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