Personalization. AI and personalization are complementary. Travel companies have large amounts of information—especially indicators of customer behavior collected through loyalty programs—that they do not fully exploit. On the basis of customers’ previous interactions, AI can help travel companies by noting which services customers have accessed in other trips or would likely enjoy.
AI can also make the hotel or cruise ship experience more seamless and personalized. Using facial-recognition technology, for example, Royal Caribbean promises passengers that they will be able to get “from car to bar in 10 minutes.” And with AI, hotel guests can be automatically assigned to the types of room that they have enjoyed in the past.
Travel companies have rich opportunities for reaching their customers in new ways with AI. Companies can draw on a wide variety of customer data to suggest trip ideas that are likely to be of greatest interest, and travelers can respond,…