Viator Taps Amazon's Alexa to Boost Experience Sales in Hotels

25.06.2024 - 13:37 / skift.com / Wynn Resorts / Jesse ChaseLubitz

Viator, a TripAdvisor brand, has partnered with Amazon.com to integrate its vast inventory of tours, activities, and experiences into Alexa-enabled devices in hotel rooms. This marks the experience sector’s first major push into voice-activated travel bookings.

Viator, which calls itself the world’s largest travel agency for experiences, and Amazon did not share details on the financial structure of the deal. Viator said that hotels would benefit from it. 

“Every tour booked by a guest using their in-room device will generate revenue share back to the hotel,” said Sarah Dines, chief commercial officer at Viator.

The deal plugs more than 300,000 tours, activities, and excursions from Viator, an online travel agency owned by TripAdvisor, into Amazon’s Alexa service. Guests can search and book travel experiences in their hotel rooms.

This isn’t an entirely novel. Many hotel operators already provide custom Alexa-powered offerings in hotel rooms through Amazon’s Alexa Smart Properties for Hospitality program, including the Circa Resort & Casino, Reverb Atlanta, the Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu in Quebec, the NH Collection in Spain, Sapporo Stream in Japan, the Wynn in Las Vegas, and some U.S. Walt Disney World Resorts.

However, this partnership signals the first time that Viator’s experiences will be built into Amazon’s devices as a “skill,” which enables users to ask Alexa about Viator’s offerings.

The service will only apply to participating hotels. For now, that includes Circa Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. However, it is available to U.S. hotels and will go international over time. 

Viator and Amazon’s service will allow guests to see popular local tours, activities, and excursions on the screens of an Amazon Echo Show device, which is similar to a small tablet or phone-sized screen that would sit on a desk or table. Guests can then explore the activities using either voice or touch. They can also book the travel experiences they want directly through Viator using a QR code.

The move comes at a time when Amazon promises a significant update to Alexa’s capabilities thanks to generative AI.

Yet it isn’t the first time a travel company joined forces with Amazon. In 2016, Expedia and Amazon partnered up to allow customers to inquire about existing flight reservations with Expedia, the loyalty program, or book a car rental.

In 2018, Amazon launched Alexa Smart Properties for Hospitality to increase its reach in the industry. The program placed Echo devices in several hotels, including Best Western, Dream Hotels, and Wynn Resorts. 

Also in 2018, the hospitality technology company SevenRooms announced plans to build an Alexa skill that enabled restaurant operators to use voice commands to streamline table