Travel search engine Kayak has integrated ChatGPT into its ‘Best Time to Travel’ tool to enhance recommendations. Jenny Southan reports

Following the example of Expedia and Tripadvisor, Kayak has integrated ChatGPT into its Best Time to Travel tool.

Now travellers can easily compare prices based on weather data, local cultural events, hotel and flight prices to determine the best time to book, with the platform suggesting alternative months to consider for less expensive travel.

“Actually, there is a perfect time to go on your vacation. Our Best Time to Travel tool uses your origin, destination and length of trip to determine when you should travel and when to book for a great price,” states Kayak on its website.

With thousands of itineraries to choose from, Best Time to Travel greatly simplifies the search process and saves users a lot of time when planning their trip and helps them find the best time to visit their chosen destination for not only the best prices.For example, when searching for the best time to go to the Maldives (when flying from London) for one week, it suggests travelling in January when flights are priced from £641 and the weather is 28°C.

The platform says: “Visit in February for a close second. Enjoy similar tropical weather at 28°C but with significantly less rain. Explore attractions like snorkelling in the beautiful sea life, or visit the Historic Mosque. Keep in mind though, flight prices are slightly steeper, about 1.5% higher compared to January.”

To determine the best time for the desired destination, Kayak’s travel search engine uses data from billions of search queries to predict flight prices up to nine months in advance. The recommendation of the optimal month to travel takes into account the popularity of the destination, average temperature and average rainfall.

Now enriched with information from ChatGPT, the Kayak tool expands its travel recommendations to include local cultural events and unique travel experiences.

ChatGPT allows Best Time To Travel users to receive a second recommendation focused on events or festivals in the destination of their choice, whether it’s New Year’s Eve in New York’s Times Square or the traditional Loi Krathong festival in Thailand

Annie Wilson, Kayak’s chief commercial officer, says: “Today’s travellers want to know as much as possible before they set off on their trip, so they can get the best experience that suits their budget. Thanks to our new Best Time to Travel service and the recent integration of ChatGPT, there’s no need to guess or rely solely on the opinions from friends or acquaintances when it comes to travel planning. We’re giving every traveller the power of data-driven travel information and recommendations so they can book every trip with confidence.”

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Mindtrip is a generative AI-native company building a new way to plan and book trips, incorporating photos, maps, pricing and availability data. Jenny Southan reports

Available in public beta before the end of 2023, Mindtrip is a generative AI-native company building a new way to plan and book trips. What’s more, it has announced it has closed a US$7 million seed round led by Costanoa Ventures, meaning it will be a big step closer to coming to life.

“Watching the evolution of who is traveling and how they plan – from TikTok-inspired GenZers to Superbooker Moms to the Planner Adventurer – we saw an opportunity to create one place where people could combine the ability to discover, plan and book,” says Andy Moss, co-founder and CEO of Mindtrip.

“Where ChatGPT stops at text suggestions, Mindtrip incorporates photos, maps, pricing and availability data that lets someone actually plan and book their complete travel itinerary leveraging generative AI.”

At the moment, trip planning is a “series of disjointed self-serve transactions”, says Mindtrip. It says: “Busy travellers are missing access to a more curated discovery-based trip planning process leading to more authentic travel experiences. They want to make quick and easy booking decisions without visiting 10 different websites and apps to plan a vacation. They also want to be able to share and learn from where their friends have travelled.”

Built on top of the most current large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Mindtrip allows travelers to ask literally any question in natural language that’s travel-related – whether asking about destinations, flights, hotels, restaurants or tours – all in one place.

The platform is “gen AI-native”, which means that the AI assistant is the foundation of the entire user experience, but the assistant is tightly integrated with accurate real-time travel data, including photography, maps of new locations and suggested places to visit.

Founded in 2023, Mindtrip is backed by an experienced team of seasoned tech leaders. Led (unusually) by 12 co-founders, its team includes serial entrepreneurs Andy Moss and Trey Matteson, Roadster co-founders who are on the heels of a successful exit to CDK Global in 2021.

The team is joined by Garrick Toubassi, who previously led the Gmail engineering team at Google, where he was an early implementer of AI and applying LLMs at scale.

“We couldn’t imagine a better team to create an app to improve how every person we know makes their travel plans,” says Greg Sands, managing partner at Costanoa Ventures. “The team hit the ground running and has already created an impressive platform for partners and the customers they want to serve.”

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Tripadvisor has unveiled an AI-powered travel itinerary generator that aims to re-imagine the way travellers plan, share and book trips. Olivia Palamountain reports

Would you trust Tripadvisor to plan your next holiday? The travel guidance platform is gearing up to do just that, with the launch of a new artificial intelligence-powered feature that creates custom travel itineraries for users.

The new itinerary generator, currently in public beta, utilises OpenAI’s generative AI to craft personalised, day-by-day trip plans based on the destination, dates, travel party and interests entered by the user.

It draws on Tripadvisor’s extensive database of more than a billion reviews and opinions to make reliable recommendations tailored to each trip, focused on generating experience, attraction and dining recommendations.

“Tripadvisor was built on travellers helping travellers,” says CEO Matt Goldberg. “By harnessing AI, we can unlock the full potential of our unparalleled data to offer truly unique travel guidance.”

It joins an exploding slew of AI-powered travel planning tools, including AdventureGenie, the world’s first RV and camping travel planning AI-aid and Expedia’s in-app travel planning experience powered by ChatGPT.

The Tripadvisor version asks users to provide details such as the destination city, travel dates, group size and preferred activities. Within seconds, they receive a full multi-day itinerary to view, save, edit and share.

The itineraries include personalised recommendations for experiences, attractions, restaurants, and other trip details informed by Tripadvisor’s community content. Users can continue to engage with reviews, opinions, photos, and more as they finalise plans.

The AI feature is currently only available in the US through desktop and mobile web, however the company plans to expand availability to more markets and its apps.

“We know our community is passionate about trip planning, so we wanted to enhance that experience, not replace it,” says chief product officer Sanjay Raman. “AI has helped us combine personalized recommendations and insights from fellow travelers in a really compelling way.”

US users can access the updated Tripadvisor Trips experience with AI itinerary generator here and enjoy improved personalisation and expanded planning tools over the next few months in line with user feedback.

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Expedia’s conversational trip planning tool harness the power of ChatGPT to inspire members to ‘dream about travel in new ways’. Olivia Palamountain reports

Expedia has announced the beta launch of an in-app travel planning experience powered by everyone’s favourite AI helper, ChatGPT.

Members of Expedia’s new loyalty scheme One Key can now engage in open-ended conversations within the app to receive personalised recommendations on destinations, accommodation, transportation options and attractions based on the chat.

The collaboration between Expedia and ChatGPT is currently in the beta testing phase, allowing for continuous evolution based on user interactions, building on the AI and ML (machine learning) algorithms already leveraged by the company for price tracking, trip options and customer support.

Not only does it offer travel guidance but it also introduces intelligent shopping capabilities, automatically saving discussed hotels to a dedicated “trip” in the app. This streamlines organisation and facilitates date selection, availability checks, and the addition of flights, cars or activities.

Peter Kern, vice-chairman and CEO of Expedia Group, emphasises the significance of trip planning and shopping, stating: “Every great trip can be made or lost while planning and shopping.”

As reported by Globetrender, travellers using artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT to plan their travel itineraries is set to boom, according to market research company Euromonitor International. AI-authored fake reviews of hotels and restaurants will explode in parallel.

Expedia aims to enhance the travel industry’s core operating system by continually improving capabilities and providing faster, simpler, and more informative trip planning experiences.

Kern further highlighted the integration of ChatGPT, alongside other AI-based features such as hotel comparison, flight price tracking and trip collaboration tools, to offer travellers an intuitive way to create their perfect itinerary.

Expedia has also developed a plugin for ChatGPT. This enables travellers to initiate conversations directly on the ChatGPT site and select the Expedia plugin to further enhance their trip planning process. When ready to book, users are seamlessly directed to the Expedia platform.

With the latest update, conversational trip planning powered by ChatGPT is now available directly within the Expedia app, allowing members to “dream, plan, and book” their travel all in one place. Moreover, the integration facilitates easy access to exclusive discounts and rewards for members’ trips.

The conversational trip planning beta experience is being rolled out globally in English language exclusively on the Expedia iOS app, enabling travellers to embark on a new era of intuitive and personalised trip planning.

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Research from Euromonitor International indicates that consumers will be turning to chatbots to plan their holidays instead of humans. Jenny Southan reports

Travellers using artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT to plan their travel itineraries is set to boom, according to market research company Euromonitor International. AI-authored fake reviews of hotels and restaurants will explode in parallel.

The massive increase in AI travel planning can be narrowed down to convenience and 24/7 accessibility, says Caroline Bremner, head of travel and tourism research at Euromonitor International.

Travellers can access AI tools from various devices, including smartphones and computers, at any time and from anywhere with an internet connection.

A resounding 98 per cent of travel executives in the Euromonitor International’s Voice of the Industry: Travel Survey stated that AI would have an impact over the next five years.

AI could disrupt travel bookings industry, which is already highly digitalised.

Bremner says: “ChatGPT is taking travel and the world by storm. With travel highly digitalised where 66 per cent of all bookings are conducted online in 2023 and mobile accounts for 35 per cent of all online sales, disruption from generative AI is already rife.”

The travel industry is already adapting. Expedia announced in April 2023 its collaboration with OpenAI, offering in-app trip planning powered by ChatGPT for iOS, as well as offering a plug-in to ChatGPT Plus users.

The Expedia ChatGPT experience provides personalised recommendations, acting like a virtual travel assistant, delivering relevant results for hotels and what to do in destination.

Booking Holding’s Kayak and OpenTable also announced ChatGPT plug-ins. Other travel brands like TripAdvisor, GetYourGuide and Klook followed suit.

Trip.com integrated ChatGPT into TripGen, its newly released AI chatbot that provides real-time assistance, itinerary planning and booking tips in the pre-trip stage. Hotels and airlines meanwhile are turning to generative AI for customer service, while automating menial tasks.

More integration will inevitably follow so that ultimately the trip planning to booking stages will blend seamlessly, dependent on access to real-time booking functionality. Generative AI is only at the beginning of its journey, giving consumers what Airbnb called “the ultimate concierge”.

AI access to “real time data” can be a game-changer.

Bremner says: “The path of AI adoption will not run entirely smoothly as there are major concerns over consumer privacy with countries like Italy temporarily banning ChatGPT. There are also concerns over large language models being reliant on out-of-date internet knowledge, with a lag of two years in the case of ChatGPT with no access to current events or real-time information. However, access to real time data has been enabled thanks to a new plug-in with Microsoft Bing.

“The risks of amplifying misinformation, bias and inequality are all too real. Safety and security of consumers must be of paramount importance. Tech leaders like Elon Musk recently demanded a pause on AI development to avoid risks to humanity including possible extinction from superintelligence, stating that the AI race was out of control and time was needed to enable government policy to play catch up.

“Travel agents faced mass disruption due to the rise of online travel three decades ago, that led to mass store closures and job losses. Now, the sector is ripe for more disruption as generative AI accelerates automation of tasks across every stage of the customer journey, before, during and after the trip.

“With Microsoft planning to integrate generative AI into its Microsoft 365 Copilot software, it will become ever more prevalent in consumers’ daily lives and work whether we like it or not.

“As before, travel brands will take the rough with the smooth to navigate this new phase of digital transformation with a test and learn approach. However, only those that ultimately celebrate the human touch of travel and hospitality will thrive.”

You can read more in Euromonitor International’s report on Revolutionising Travel with ChatGPT and Generative AI, which includes a detailed analysis on the impact of future technology on travel brands and destinations.

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Virgin Voyages has turned its brand ambassador Jennifer Lopez into an AI deepfake that can be programmed to send bespoke video invitations to friends and family. Jenny Southan reports

Always ahead of the curve, Virgin Voyages has come up with a clever new marketing gimmick to motivate fun-loving travellers to book its cruises.

Jen AI, as it’s called, has harnessed the likeness of the singer-dancer-actress to create a highly realistic version (aka a “deepfake) of J-Lo, who will personally read out customised invitations to set sail via a “highly-personalised video”. Because who can say no to J-Lo?

The Drum writes: “The spot opens with a reclining J-Lo, who in a seductive voice introduces herself as Virgin Voyages’ chief celebration officer and invites people to board the ship. Suddenly, due to a glitch, her true identity is revealed: she‘s actually a man named Kyle.

“The viewer then learns that the real J-Lo is nowhere to be found and the woman in frame is indeed Jen AI, a play on words for ’generative AI’ – the burgeoning class of tools that produce content in response to user inputs. Another woman from the backend takes on Kyle’s duties, suggesting that Jen AI needs an upgrade or two before the technology is perfected.”

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While they are exploring QVerse, they will be presented the airline’s most competitive fares for the upcoming six months.

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A mixed-reality headset with Apple’s first 3D camera, Apple Vision Pro blurs the boundaries between the digital and the real world. Rose Dykins reports

Apple has unveiled Apple Vision Pro, a spatial computer headset that seamlessly blends digital content with the physical world.

Available from early 2024 in the US, the mixed-reality (MR) device has huge potential for next-level immersive digital travel experiences that could rival the exploring new places in real life.

Worn as a headset, the Apple Vision Pro features visionOS, the world’s first spatial operating system, which lets users interact with digital content in a way that feels like it is physically present in their space.

When wearing Apple Vision Pro, you can still see the real world around you. “Even though these experiences are happening inside Vision Pro, it looks, sounds and feels like they are physically there,” says Apple. “Foundational to Apple Vision Pro is that you’re not isolated from other people. When someone else is in the room, you can see them and they can see you.The device has a fully 3D interface that creates an “infinite canvas” for apps, freeing it from the boundaries of a traditional screen display. Meanwhile, its interface is controlled by the user’s eyes, hands and voice, making it feel as intuitive to use as possible.

“Because you’re not limited by a display, apps live in your space,” says Apple. “Your photos can be life-size… so your living room becomes a gallery. Panoramas wrap around you, as if you’re right where you took them.”

Apple Vision Pro is Apple’s first ever 3D camera, meaning users can capture photos and videos with remarkable depth. This presents amazing potential for next-level travel photography and videos, allowing travellers to “relive a memory as if you’re right back in the exact moment”.

Apple adds: “Experiences on Vision Pro can also expand in three dimensions, filling the entirety of your space… You can bring in a beautiful environment and make your screen feel 100 feet wide.

“Since your eyes see the world with incredible resolution, we built a micro-OLED display system that fits 64 pixels in the same amount of space as a single iPhone pixel, and packs 23 million into two panels the size of a postage stamp. That’s more than a 4K TV for each eye, giving you jaw-dropping, life-life clarity.”

In terms of sound, Apple Vision Pro features Apple’s most advanced spatial audio system ever. Sound is delivered directionally to a user’s ear, with audio raytracing using sophisticated sensors that understand the materials and objects surrounding them in their space. This makes it feels as if sound is genuinely coming from the space around you.The impressive processing speed of Apple Vision Pro also aims to virtually eliminate lag altogether to ensure experiences take place in real time, which again presents incredible potential for immersive virtual travel experiences that feel hyper-real.

Apple Vision Pro features a single piece of three-dimensionally formed laminated glass, which acts as a lens through which the cameras and sensors view the world.

This is held by an aluminium alloy frame that curves to wrap around the user’s face, with a light seal to keep out stray light and a soft frame that flexes and conforms to a user’s unique features, while a knitted headband increases comfort. Attached to the headset is a lightweight battery attached that can be slipped into the user’s pocket.

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Launched in partnership with TravelX, the NFT tech allows Flybondi customers to transfer, rename or sell their plane tickets. Rose Dykins reports

A milestone for the airline industry, Argentinian airline Flybondi is issuing electronic plane tickets as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

The low-cost carrier has partnered with NFT ticketing company TravelX, to offer NFT plane tickets, which allow passengers to change the name on tickets, transfer or sell them. This peer-to-peer distribution of plane tickets could represent a step change in the way airlines serve their customers.

Travellers buy the NFT tickets through Flybondi’s website using regular currency. TravelX then issues an NFT ticket in addition to their original ticket, which exists on the Algorand blockchain (the technology that the NFT ticket technology is built around).

The two tickets are synchronised to carry matching data, so they have the same seat number, fare rules and itinerary. Flybondi can then trace the NFT ticket even if it is renamed, resold or transferred to another person up to 72 hours before departure. Flybondi and TravelX receive a transaction fee each time tickets are exchanged to another owner.In September 2022, Flybondi launched its its NFTicket Marketplace, making regular plane tickets available for NFT tokenisation, which resulted in 1 per cent of all Flybondi tickets sold monthly becoming tokenised.

Since April 2023, every ticket the airline sells is tokenised and built directly into the infrastructure of Flybondi’s online platform, according to TravelX.

Mauricio Sana, Flybondi’s CEO, says the airline’s move to NFT tickets: “Demonstrates our commitment to innovation and providing our customers with the best possible experience. We’re excited to be at the forefront of this change in the travel industry.”

Juan Pablo Lafosse, CEO of TravelX, says: “Our partnership with Flybondi and the integration of our NFTicket technology on the Algorand blockchain exemplifies the enormous potential for innovation within the travel industry. We’re eager to continue driving this transformation alongside the other airlines worldwide we are already working with.”

TravelX is reported in discussion with more than 60 other airlines about the possibility of introducing NFTickets to their offering.

In 2022, the tech company partnered with Air Europa to release the first NFTickets for a series of flights. Those who purchased the tickets gained exclusive access to an Air Europa flight to Miami Beach.

The NFT tickets were sold over online auction ahead of the city’s annual Art Basel art show, created in collaboration with acclaimed artists -and the first NFT ticket sold for US$1 million.

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“Digital members’ club” IBZNFT wants to revolutionise Ibiza’s luxury travel landscape using NFT technology to unlock limited access to exclusive island-wide experiences. Olivia Palamountain reports.

IBZNFT is a utility-based NFT members’ club aiming to elevate Ibizan adventures through money-can’t-buy experiences, tailored itineraries and meaningful interaction with locals.

As part of the IBZNFT community, during stays on the “White Isle” you can expect exclusive access to wellness and spirituality-themed expeditions, such as hikes to hidden hillsides complete with a sound healing workshop, arts and culture immersion and invites to exclusive music happenings and experientially-designed parties.

Meetings with some of the island’s most celebrated creators, movers and shakers are also on the cards.

But how and where exactly does the blockchain twist come in? Club membership is granted seasonally, and in the form of an NFT, which grants access to all things IBZNFT.

The season of events starts in May and runs through to October, and IBZNFT holders will be able to bring between one and five guests with them, depending on the experience.Memberships for the 2023 season will go on sale at the start of April this year via the IBZNFT website for one month only and you must be over-21 to join the club.

How much does it cost? Memberships cost US$5000 or 5000 USDC per season (payment can be made in either dollars or USDC crypto, a stablecoin that is pegged to the dollar, so even though it is a cryptocurrency it does not change in value).

Each membership is for one person only and once purchased, the NFT cannot be resold. However, it can be transferred by the NFT owner with prior permission from the IBZNFT team.The founders of this unique club are three international creatives, all deeply rooted on the island. They comprise Ivan Fernandes, part of the Black Coffee DJ team and PR director of super club Hi; writer and cultural curator, Liam Aldous, Monocle magazine’s Spain correspondent; and Alejandro Haba, founder of luxury travel agency MOD Ibiza and festival and event agency Perfect Strangers.

Alejandro Haba explains: “IBZNFT is revolutionizing the way luxury is experienced on the island. Our innovative utility-based NFT club eliminates the traditional barriers of VIP access, to truly immerse our members in the island while creating a strong community of like-minded people.”

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