AI in Travel

Today's podcast looks at a Labor Day travel boom, using AI to support business travel, and a surge in Middle East tourism.

As more seniors chase unique, quality experiences, you can bet other travel companies will want a piece of the action too.

Travel is growing between India and the U.S. but there is a lot of room for growth. The key will be knocking down barriers and making travel easier.

The travel-management giant is using AI to read and respond to trip requests via emails. The goal is to free up human agents for more critical tasks, like perhaps explaining to executives why they can't expense that "team-building" trip to Vegas.

Skift has covered hundreds of travel startup funding rounds over the past few years, and we’ve spoken with numerous founders and investors about the state of venture capital. They all tell a similar story: There’s money to be had, but the bar is much higher now.

It’s still early days, but most of the experiments with AI are focused on improving customer service and increasing the efficiency of flight operations.

Steve Singh is continuing to build and fund an ecosystem that he hopes will bring about a more high-tech experience for the next generation of business travel. Otto will have to work out the rough edges of other AI trip planners to date.

Delivering seamless digital interactions across every touchpoint is more critical than ever in today’s travel landscape, especially during major travel disruptions. Using AI tools behind the scenes can help travel brands enhance — not replace — human talent and personal empathy.

Tiqets CEO Laurens Leurink says sales of travel experiences are booming. Gen Z and Millennials want cultural engagement, not checklist sightseeing. So with some help from AI, Tiqets has recently quadrupled its sales without adding staff.

Flyr CEO Alex Mans isn't afraid to call out the old guard as he harnesses AI to shake-up the antiquated world of airline technology.