🤖✈️ From assistants to agents: AI revolutionizes travel

From unified planning to robotics: what's changing for hotels and travelers

Artificial Intelligence agents are evolving from simple helpers to active protagonists in the customer journey: they no longer just respond, but decide and perform tasks on behalf of the user, redefining the role of players in the ecosystem.

For those working in the hotel industry, this means rethinking processes, channels, and services with a mindset focused on simplicity, automation, and perceived value. It is time to adopt a spirit of adaptation and innovation to remain competitive.

1) AI agents: from “support” to “action” 🧠

AI agents are evolving from passive assistants to proactive actors: they collect signals, evaluate alternatives, make decisions, and initiate operations (from sending communications to booking services). This quantum leap shifts the bar for customer experience to speed, consistency, and accuracy throughout the funnel.

2) A single travel experience: Google integration 🔍

The traditional “inspiration → comparison → booking” path is shortening: Google is integrating AI to transform the planning stages into a single, more fluid experience, with fewer steps and more relevance. For hotels and destinations, this requires clear content, data availability, and immediate responses on prices, policies, and services.

3) New AI-native platforms: towards personalized travel ⚙️

The arrival of AI-based platforms, such as OpenAI's Operator, marks a shift towards more personalized and automated travel services, capable of orchestrating channels and inventories and redefining trade roles and flows. Operators who are able to communicate via API with these agents will have an advantage in managing demand and conversions.

4) Robotics in hotels: from theory to practice 🦾

According to Morgan Stanley, by 2050, one billion humanoid robots could be in use, fueling a $5 trillion economy. In tourism and hospitality, they will be able to handle physical routines such as cleaning, maintenance, baggage handling, check-in, and catering. This frees up staff time for the human touch and high-value activities.

5) How to prepare your hotel: essential roadmap 🚀

• Process map: identify repetitive tasks (FAQs, pre-stay, follow-up) to be assigned to an AI agent.
• Data and integrations: set up secure access to price lists, availability, policies, and CRM for reliable responses.
• Seamless experience: align your website, messaging, and channels with unified planning (few clicks, clear info).
• High Tech & High Touch: leave the operations to the agents and reserve empathic hospitality for your team.
• Culture of innovation: promote a new spirit of adaptation to seize the opportunities offered by automation.
  
  

📢 Bring AI from theory to practice in your hotel.