Debate Ignites Over Viator's Alexa Integration in Hotels

13.07.2024 - 13:20 / skift.com / Laurel Greatrix / Dana Young / Jesse ChaseLubitz

When Viator announced a recent initiative to integrate its offerings with Amazon’s Alexa in select hotels, there was plenty of skepticism.

Most commenters on a LinkedIn post for our story felt that the vast majority of guests don’t use voice-operated technology in their hotels for anything but simple tasks.

“I don’t know anyone who uses Alexa beyond shopping lists, setting timers and checking the weather,” said Arival co-founder and CEO, Douglas Quinby.

“Agreed that almost nobody uses a voice assistant for travel discovery and planning,” said Jason Halberstadt, CEO of VoyagePort & MyTrip.AI. 

Others said that they can’t see themselves asking Alexa to book a plane ticket or rooms – that is something most people would do on a desktop device. 

Viator maintains that the voice mechanism is another way for customers to find its services. “Discovery is one of our category’s greatest challenges. Fragmentation means travelers often visit tens of sites and scroll hundreds of options before booking,” said Laurel Greatrix, Viator’s vice president of brand and communications. “We’re working very, very hard to solve the challenge of simplifying this discovery process — which should be fun, not frustrating.”

Many believed that visual elements remain crucial in the travel booking process. “I see people starting with voice. But there has to be a display somewhere to close the deal,” said Timothy Hughes, vice president of corporate development at Agoda. “Travel buying needs images/video and non-linear content.”

Benjamin Rhatigan, a brand strategy and marketing expert at Arrival Projects noted, “Trip and excursion booking is usually such a visual experience though. Customers want to see what they’re buying!”

CEO of AIPEX technologies, Dana Young, suggested a hybrid approach, advocating for both in-room devices and guest phones: “Providing choice instead? Giving guests better visibility to local activities is helpful and there’s no single way to do it. If you can do both but have a single way of managing the experience, even better.”

An Amazon spokesperson said Amazon Smart Properties for Hospitality does offer that option. “Hotel operators can complement the voice experience with visual content rendered on Echo Show devices,” the spokesperson said.

The outlook was not entirely negative, however. Many experts feel that the technology, combined with the advancements of AI, could push the booking process into a new space.

Daniel Frank, co-founder of a German company that focuses on voice-driven technology, noted the engagement rates of Alexa devices in hospitality. “An impressive 87% of guests use our personalized Hotel skill, resulting in over 1,500 interactions per day per hotel, with an average response time of just