Booking Holdings Brands Collaborate on AI Deployment
The businesses under Booking Holdings exchange knowledge as they create and use tools fueled by artificial intelligence (AI).
During the company’s quarterly earnings call, Glenn Fogel, CEO of Booking Holdings, revealed as much on Thursday, August 3.
“Being able to do all these things from the different brands and being able to learn from each other — what works, what doesn’t work, where should you put more emphasis, where should be put less emphasis — I think will help us have an advantage over many other companies that may not have the scale, the experts and the capital to put into what could be a very, very exciting future for us,” Fogel said during the call.
The six leading consumer-facing brands in Booking Holdings’ portfolio concentrate on online travel and related services. They include Kayak, OpenTable, Priceline, Agoda, RentalCars.com, and Booking.com.
Fogel stated on the call that several AI-related projects are now in progress at these companies. For instance, ChatGPT plug-ins have been implemented in OpenTable and Kayak.
An AI trip planner has been made available by Booking.com in beta form. Penny, a generative AI-powered travel assistant from Priceline, can respond to inquiries about travel. Internally, Agoda uses generative AI to improve its code efficiency.
In March, OpenTable disclosed a partnership with ChatGPT to integrate restaurant recommendations into that chatbot’s generative AI.
To offer its AI-enabled services, Priceline partnered with Google. Customers can interact with a chatbot powered by generative AI, and Priceline will start presenting more individualized options to travelers looking for hotels.
In an earnings call, Fogel discussed AI and mentioned that Booking Holdings aims to develop various components of the “connected trip,” which refers to the company’s initiative to let clients book all parts of their travel experience through its platform.
“In addition to the many current applications for AI on our platforms, we believe that we can build an even more compelling and differentiated offering for our bookers if we can leverage AI technology to deliver a more personalized booking experience,” Fogel said during the call. “A connected trip would be more responsive to a booker’s needs and help manage different aspects of their trips.”
