Several popular national parks are bringing back timed reservation systems for next year, requiring visitors to plan ahead.
11.12.2023 - 22:53 / skift.com / Dennis Schaal
Generative AI is already prompting travel businesses to retool internal operations and release new products.
Even with Google’s release of its Gemini upgrade, which is geared to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, it’s a good bet that Google Search will face new pressure and a growing roster of competitors, from OpenAI to Microsoft/Bing, Meta, Apple, and perhaps new rivals.
What happens to Google’s advertising links – from which it earns billions – if AI enables instant answers?
We posed the following question to several travel executives and investors: Will generative AI change Google’s advertising-only business model? Will it become an online travel agency?
None explicitly said Google would become an online travel agency, a prospect that Google has long downplayed. But they forecast far-reaching changes to Google’s advertising business, and the competitive landscape.
We received the following 9 replies, which have been edited for length and clarity.
“Consumers don’t want ads. They want answers and actions. The world’s most elite travel agent, who knows all of their info, past bookings & preferences in their pocket, and that will soon be possible thanks to AI/GPTs. In this era, subscription, ads, agent fees, CPA, are all on the table. Safe to say it will not look like the 10 blue links and ad spam that we get today.”
“It definitely will [change], because Google has more datapoints than anyone. Simple use case: Google notices that you’ve accepted a business meeting in Berlin in two months on your Google calendar. It knows from your past Gmail travel bookings that you prefer United, fly business, and like to arrive one day early and leave immediately in the p.m. when meetings end. It also knows your past hotel bookings.
“AI will help create a suggested itinerary, and Google can prompt you to engage with it across all your touchpoints with them (Chrome, Calendar, Gmail, Android, etc.).
If anyone can build an virtual travel agent, it’s them. Not a very fair fight huh?”
“I tried the Gen AI assistants; ChatGPT gave me 200-300 word essays to read and the new Bing got a bit confused with my requests so had to try a few times.
“But then I went to TikTok, suddenly got videos/vlogs on the beaches, how far from Florence, best hotels nearby, top restaurants and you could feel what it would be like to go and stay there. And on the other search, I saw first-hand video of the check-in process, the rooms, pools, kids club, food, etc. to the point where it was very easy to make my final decision.
“What’s missing is the call to action to go buy/book. It’s coming, and I expect more and more of travel to bypass the final search blue links and move up to the social media/video layer.”
“The big shift will be that with
Several popular national parks are bringing back timed reservation systems for next year, requiring visitors to plan ahead.
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