Travel and AI: Planning Vacations with Generative Artificial Intelligence
Useful Tools for Organizing Itineraries and Experiences: Where Do We Stand? A Look at the Main Tools Available Today (article for Manageritalia)
The latest results from the Artificial Intelligence Observatory of the School of Management at the Politecnico di Milano reveal that in 2023, nearly all Italians (98%) had heard of artificial intelligence, and more than one in four (29%) had a medium to high level of understanding. A significant 25% reported having interacted with ChatGPT at least once. The applications of generative AI are numerous, particularly in the workplace, but today we want to focus on a specific use case to understand the state of the art: its use in vacation planning.
"Artificial intelligence is everywhere," explains Yoon Kim, assistant professor at MIT's Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, in an article for USA TODAY. "For example, when we search for something—on TripAdvisor or Hotels.com—it's likely that an AI-based system is providing a list of results based on the query entered." "Since many online travel agencies have already integrated various types of generative AI into their platforms, people may be using them without even knowing it," added Matt Soderberg, head of the U.S. airline sector for Deloitte, who identified AI as a key theme in the transformation of travel in his report "Facing Travel’s Future," published in early April.
Focusing only on ChatGPT or other tools specifically designed for travel planning with artificial intelligence and consciously used by users for that purpose, the data that emerges is intriguing. A recent YouGov study showed that 42% of British and American travelers use or are inclined to use AI in planning their trips (YouGov May 2024). According to Matador Network, more than half of Americans (50.8%) will use it this year to plan their vacations, especially families with children (57.4%). This tool is also widely used by business travelers: 77% use AI, or are inclined to do so, to organize their business trips, and 44% have already done so in the past (Matador Network data, 2024). Americans and Brits are certainly advantaged by the language, as English is the primary language used by most models and virtual assistants.
What is the situation in Italy? We wanted to test the main models and apps that support the Italian language, asking them to "organize a five-day trip for two people to an Italian art city with things to see, places to eat, and transportation via public transit. Departure city: Milan."
The main models currently available are divided between downloadable apps (iPlan.ai, Tripbot) and free or freemium websites (Layla – Roam Around, Wonderplan, Trip planner AI, Explorererg, Curiosio, Vacay, PlanTripAI.com). There's also GeekGuide, an assistant that responds via WhatsApp or Instagram.
We tested them all, and the first difference is that some are able to generate a complete itinerary based solely on the prompt (the description of the desired itinerary), while others involve a guided process of choosing the destination, number of participants, and other specifics that help provide a more detailed result. In this case, however, the supported language is only English. Some models, however, also support Italian, with good results.
All the tools tested offer similar itineraries: the chosen city is always Florence, as are some of the suggested restaurants (such as Antico Vinaio or Trattoria ZaZa). Layla and Vacay certainly offer the most comprehensive itineraries, as their descriptions include links to the individual locations' websites (though sometimes the links are in English or Spanish). Explorererg also outlines a detailed itinerary.
GeekGuide is particularly interesting, functioning as a real assistant via WhatsApp, which in our case created a varied and comprehensive itinerary, even offering a trip to Pisa and including shopping among the activities. With the same description, ChatGPT4 also provided excellent results, adding suggestions that matched the profile of the trip. There's certainly room for improvement, but one way to optimize results is to formulate a prompt as specific as possible, including budget, dietary preferences, and cultural interests. The better the description provided, the better the results.
What could be the implications of using these tools for the tourism and transportation sectors? There is certainly a lead generation component that Layla already has active in hotel selection, with discounts of up to 60% for app users. Beyond targeted advertising, the interesting thing is that by interacting and collaborating with these tools, it will be possible to obtain highly profiled customers for your specific type of offer, whether it be a hotel, a transportation company, or a cultural site.
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