Generative AI is not only here to stay but is a strategic game changer for the business travel industry in terms of the customer experience. In the early days, the integration of AI began with travel management companies utilizing the technology for room and bed type mapping and automated reconciliation to match bookings to credit card charges, for example.
Today, TMCs are experimenting with AI across a much broader spectrum and it will drive sweeping change. Already, we are seeing AI-powered start-ups and applications such as personalized travel planning and AI-driven concierge services. The emergence of the Digital Assistant is becoming reality. Furthermore, there is a widespread expectation that AI’s predictive tools will anticipate needs and create a bespoke booking that is policy compliant before travelers even think about their next trip. The technology heralds the Policy of One.
But in the TMC space, which is so often risk averse, these predictions are being tempered and some are voicing caution. “AI has near-endless potential to change the way our industry processes travel bookings, from search to expense and reporting,” says David Coppens, SVP solutions engineering and service design at BCD Travel.
“However, generative AI also comes with risks like ‘hallucinations’ that need to be managed, which will take time. Our immediate focus is on low risk/high impact productivity gains first, while we test and learn.”
Easy Pickings
These painless wins are enhancing the virtual travel assistant. At Navan Travel, the company is already averaging 20 percent year over year increase in asks completed by its automated agent, meaning next year, “it will likely be managing 70 percent of support requests,” says CEO Rich Liu. “This shift will enable travel agents to become even more specialized in their craft. We’re betting big on chat becoming the primary interaction mode, with increasingly sophisticated voice capabilities integrated into AI bots.”
Already, Navan’s automated support agent is able to anticipate users’ needs based on known traveler patterns and share traveler-specific recommendations. “This level of personalization takes the booking process from hours on a legacy platform to minutes or seconds with a modern T&E solution,” says Liu.
Corporate Travel Management is looking ahead to ways its virtual travel assistant, Scout, can deliver more services in the future. “Features like recognizing loyalty programs, seat preferences, and past room numbers are part of the vision for enhancing traveler satisfaction and streamlining the booking process,” explains Eric Ediger, CTM’s global head of automation machine learning and leader of the company’s AI development globally. “All the traveler would need to do is approve Scout’s suggestions.”
Sarah Kuberry Martino, Direct Travel’s chief product officer, believes this hyper-personalized picture of the future is closer than ever. “We envision AI going beyond simple voice commands. Not only will travelers be able to dictate preferences like, ‘I need to go to London Tuesday night and return Friday morning,’ but AI could proactively generate suggested itineraries based on calendar integrations, meeting locations, and historical data. This level of anticipatory service will help transform booking from a task into a largely automated, yet highly personalized, transaction.”
However, this scenario assumes that the traveler is willing to share their personal data and travel patterns, “which needs to be proven out in time,” says Coppens. Nonetheless, he remains optimistic for an AI-powered future: “AI will certainly have a positive impact on the traveler experience and the efficiency and accuracy of travel agents. Travel is a large spend category for many companies and we will continue to manage it for our customers – with the help of AI.”
Final checks may still be managed by the TMC and any post-booking issues managed by them too. In this way, AI will help balance cost savings with predicted ROI on travel investments, measuring travel’s tangible impacts on business outcomes. “This dual optimization – prioritizing both traveler experience and organizational goals – will establish AI as an invaluable tool that will help showcase the strategic value of travel,” believes Kuberry Martino.
Furthermore, expense integration and payment automation could also become seamless says CTM’s Ediger. “This will be particularly game-changing with NDC as we see a proliferation of content and offers.”
Travelers Have a Say
Accelerating this change are the travelers themselves, keen to take more control and self-serve. “AI capabilities perfectly cater to the evolving needs of the new generation of business travelers,” says Festive Road consultants Haripriya Ramesh and Asif Bashir. “AI-driven travel solutions offer personalized options, tailored to individual preferences and habits, such as prior bookings, team travel plans and schedule constraints. This level of customization can be achieved seamlessly, without requiring travelers to explicitly specify their preferences.”
Will Tate, partner at GoldSpring Consulting, says this personalization will not be limited to air, car and ground. “Experiences will also be presented per the traveler’s interests: walking, dining, touring, etc. Suppliers will ensure split payments are available to permit travelers to buy additional items that may be out of policy but worth it for that traveler and that trip.”
CTM’s Global Customer Survey found that the under-40-year-old demographic values pre-packaged and personalized business travel offers 10 percent more than the 40-plus cohort. “AI supports these preferences, as it allows for more customizable bookings while maintaining adherence to company policies,” says Ediger. “For example, younger travelers might appreciate an AI assistant suggesting hotels that offer lifestyle and well-being services or sustainable travel options that better suit their personal values while remaining within policy guidelines,” he explains.
Arguably, AI will help corporates reach the goal of frictionless travel for their employees as it can proactively respond to real-time events such as flight disruptions and weather, automatically notifying relevant parties, and minimizing traveler inconvenience.
For example, if a traveler’s arriving flight in London is significantly late, the AI-powered system will know that traffic will be heavy and direct them to the Heathrow Express, notify the hotel that they will be late, and suggest a nearby place for coffee. Furthermore, 24 hours before their return flight, the system will check them in, try to upgrade the seat, book their ride to the airport and notify their family member when to expect them back home.
“With AI, business travelers can enjoy a more streamlined, efficient, and personalized travel experience, all at the click of a button,” according to the Festive Road team.
High-touch TMCs will have to carefully manage their service delivery and have already been working out how best to marry their human workforce with artificial intelligence. “While human agents and AI agents will always overlap in some capacity, there will still be a need for human agent expertise,” according to Navan’s Liu.
While extrapolating current automation trends might lead to redundancies of travel consultants, it’s more likely that AI will maximize agent productivity. Their jobs will change rather than be lost, so consultants can happily automate the boring repetitive parts of their job and focus on more complex tasks which work best with human interaction such as crisis management, VIP services and complex travel bookings.
AI can certainly reduce high volume, low-value tasks through automation. Daniel Senyard, SVP of commercial platforms and innovation at Flight Centre Group, sees this is the most likely scenario. He says that most of the services that TMCs offer will undoubtedly still be necessary, but “we can’t pretend that some services will eventually not be as needed or that expectations will change over time. It’s up to us to stay on top of the trends and the technology so that we continue creating value for the customer.”
Coppens concurs: “AI will help us work smarter and faster, but you can’t lose sight of the human connection. When I was stuck in Canada recently due to a cancellation, the airline app, the airlines chatbot and BCD’s TripSource app all provided intelligence and options. No doubt some of those were powered by AI. It was the outstanding after-hours support agent, however, who gave me a solution and peace of mind.”
This is a view echoed by many other TMCs. For example, Julian Russell, UK-based executive director information technology and supplier relations at GlobalStar Travel Management, says: “Let’s not forget that the corporate customer has entrusted their travel program to their chosen TMC for a reason, understanding that travel is a complex beast with a number of interdependencies which AI can only partially automate currently. It is almost becoming a cliché, but even with the incredible advancements of machine learning, the agent is still critical with a vital role to play.”
Moreover, how much AI is utilized will come down to company culture, travel policy and the travel manager. “It is more realistic that AI could deliver a more personalized service to the end-user while the cost-conscious travel manager may benefit from savings delivered through automation and streamlined agent productivity,” Russell says. “It will be important to ask the buyer whether they really want their traveler to be provided with an individualized solution.”
Navigating New Roads
Cost, of course, is paramount for travel buyers and that consideration will also sway how much they choose to use less costly automation from their TMC. “Note that this technology of automated, near perfect search will be done for pennies versus today’s average TMC transaction fee,” says GoldSpring’s Tate. “Of course, there will be markups on the technology, add-ons that cost and enhance more, but a huge reduction in corporate TMC fees.”
Tate reckons pricing will go down with fewer humans engaged and go up with more humans engaged. “So, routine trips for pennies of TMC costs, high-touch being very expensive.”
Talent retention will be another consideration which will influence this AI-powered future. “Current systems and workflows do not cater well for personalization or a work/life balance,” reckons GlobalStar’s Russell. “There is a perception that tomorrow’s travel policy will have to embrace personalization and consider the individual travelers and their lifestyle choices to ensure successful retention of staff. Ultimately AI will have the capability to deliver this, but the final decision remains with the travel manager and corporate policy.”
Executive assistants and personal assistants will be able to maximize their productivity as well, and deliver a better service to senior travel bookers. The ripple effect will encompass data specialists and security specialists too, but much later than the impact it will have on the travel management company.
The integration of AI integration heralds a new era for TMC customer service. “It represents a paradigm shift in how corporate travel is managed, bought, and experienced,” CTM’s Ediger maintains. “The key for all stakeholders will be to embrace this change and adapt their roles to leverage the new possibilities AI presents.”
On a macro level, Gabe Rizzi, president of Altour, predicts that corporates will most likely adopt hybrid models, leveraging AI for routine travel and relying on TMCs for strategic, complex or high-touch needs. He also sees the roles of the travel manager and TMC being redefined towards oversight, exception management and high value services like strategy and policy optimization versus the tactical duties of today.
“TMCs will pivot into more consultative roles, focusing on policy design, data consulting and traveler wellbeing rather than transactional management. They will balance humans and tech, and lastly, policy and program optimization from negotiating contracts with suppliers to maximizing program ROI.”
One thing is sure: Change is happening today. “The AI future isn’t just coming – it’s here, and it’s more exciting than we ever imagined,” says Navan’s Liu. “The transformation is happening now, and it’s just the beginning of an exhilarating journey.”
