The 7 best travel chatbots for 2024

In today’s digital world, every company must be a tech company, even those traditionally reliant on call centres and human interactions. With bots, TMCs are able to scale personalised service in a way never managed before. Now, the travel chatbot has emerged to take this digital disruption to new levels, allowing airlines and other travel operators to engage with customers and employees in more automated and frictionless ways, via the power of chat. At ServisBOT we created the Army of Bots to get you started quickly and easily on your bot implementations. Being one of the most dynamic customer-facing global businesses, travel and tourism has a ton of potential with the help of chatbots. Travel chatbots are highly beneficial as they streamline and automate repetitive tasks, allowing staff to focus on more complex and personalized customer interactions.

In a world where bots are becoming increasingly sophisticated, the possibilities for the future are endless. The power of chatbots, through either voice- (Siri, Echo, Cortana, Google Home etc.) or message-based interfaces (SMS, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp etc.), is increasingly shaping how travel companies engage with consumers. Technology advancements now enable travel operators to have a true voice, to build their identity through chat, and to enhance their brand identity through the underlying natural language processing (NLP) and AI capabilities. From travel bookings, real-time service requests to instant query resolution, automate processes across sales and customer support with a travel bot. Personalized travel chatbots can automate upselling and cross-selling, leading to increased sales through proactive messages, relevant offers, and customized suggestions based on previous interactions.

By automatically helping multiple travelers simultaneously and deflecting tickets, chatbots for customer service free up your agents to focus on the complex travel issues that require a human touch. This can boost agent productivity, increase resolution time, and allow you to serve more customers without hiring additional support agents. But to do so, companies have to pay a commission or a joining fee to these OTAs.Through the conversational marketing capabilities of chatbots, companies are creating a direct marketing strategy to attract visitors and travelers. In this way, a travel bot levels the gap between direct bookings and bookings made via the OTAs. Travel AI chatbots work by using artificial intelligence, particularly machine learning and natural language processing, to understand and respond to user inquiries. They analyze data from interactions to improve their responses and offer more personalized assistance.

An example of an airline chatbot is an AI-powered assistant on an airline’s website or app that helps passengers check flight statuses, book tickets, receive boarding information, and access customer support. Dottie, operational on WhatsApp and the website, automated over 35 use cases, including booking tickets and managing loyalty programs. Powered by Yellow.ai’s DynamicNLPTM engine, Dottie achieved an impressive 1.69% unidentified utterance rate and a 90% user acceptance rate. The AI agent’s ability to seamlessly switch channels while retaining historical context significantly improved the customer experience. It’s like having a thoughtful conversation with a friend who cares about how your trip went.

Travel bot helps customers communicate in their own preferred languages while traveling, by providing translations of common phrases and words. Chatbots can also be used to conduct customer feedback surveys for collecting feedback from customers. Chatbots can automatically send reminders to customers urging them to write reviews and submit ratings for the services provided. These funds are utilized to launch new chatbots on different platforms, improve chatbot intent recognition capabilities, and tackle chatbot challenges with that evidently cause chatbot fails. And in case of lost baggage, chatbots can create a luggage claim from the user’s information and ticket PNR. Chatbots can also ask users questions to narrow down their options, such as “What is your budget?

Travel chatbots can take it further by enabling smooth transitions to human agents who speak the traveler’s native language. This guarantees that complicated queries or nuanced interactions will be resolved accurately and swiftly, fostering a more robust relationship between the travel agent and its worldwide clientele. Around 50% of customers expect companies to be constantly available, and travel chatbots perfectly meet this requirement by providing immediate responses – a key benefit in improving customer satisfaction.

If successfully integrated with a company’s travel policy, bots will be able to match the user’s preferences and information with the businesses’ requirements around travel. FCM has its own travel bot called Sam, an itinerary management tool on steroids, describes Euan McNeil, FCM GM for South Africa. Sam has been released in the USA and is expected to be launched early in 2018 in South Africa. The travel bot is the perfect technological answer to address the business traveller’s need and desire to manage their trip on their own, and give them much-needed freedom within framework.

Now that you know how travel chatbots can keep your travelers on track, it’s time to take off. With Zendesk, you can implement travel chatbots with a few clicks and no coding, lowering your TCO and TTV. Our AI-powered chatbots are purpose-built for CX and pre-trained on millions of customer interactions, so they’re ready to solve problems 24/7 with natural, human language. A travel chatbot enhances customer experience by providing instant, 24/7 support, personalized travel suggestions, and efficient handling of bookings and inquiries, making the travel planning process more convenient and enjoyable. Check out some great chatbot use cases common to the travel and tourism industry where chatbots can improve the experience as well as drive greater engagement and efficiency. Zendesk is a complete customer service solution with AI technology built on billions of real-life customer service interactions.

The solution was a generative AI-powered travel assistant capable of conducting goal-based conversations. This innovative approach enabled Pelago’s chatbots to adjust conversations, offering personalized travel planning experiences dynamically. From handling specific requests like “Cancel my booking” to more open-ended queries like planning a family trip to Bali, these chatbots brought a near-human touch to digital interactions. The integration of Yellow.ai with Zendesk further enhanced agent productivity, allowing for more personalized customer interactions. Recent industry analyses, including a NASDAQ-highlighted study, underscore a vast potential for enhanced customer service in travel and hospitality. Amidst this backdrop, travel chatbots emerge as trailblazers, creating seamless, stress-free experiences for travelers worldwide.

Enhancing the Customer Service Experience

Not just recommendations and bookings, a travel bot can be programmed to assist the traveler throughout the trip. Right from deciding where to go to building an itinerary to tracking expenses, chatbots are increasingly becoming the go-to AI travel assistant for wanderers. They blend advanced technology with a touch of personalization to create seamless, efficient, travel bots and enjoyable travel journeys. As the travel industry continues to evolve, the integration of AI-powered chatbots will undoubtedly play a central role in shaping its future, making every trip not just a journey but a memorable experience. Travis offered on-demand personalized service at scale, automating 70-80% of routine queries in multiple languages.

In such a highly competitive market, one cannot afford to let a single prospect go unattended. With technological advancements, the way people now plan their trips has changed. Gone are the days when people visited local travel agents to book a flight or a hotel.

As such, loyalty to a travel brand remains somewhat elusive, albeit highly desirable for the travel operator. Well, I hope to make life easier for you and your customers by introducing you to a travel chatbot. Chatbots are software applications that can simulate human-like conversation and boost the effectiveness of your customer service strategy. Flow XO chatbots can also be programmed to send links to web pages, blog posts, or videos to support their responses.

Operating 24/7, virtual assistants engage users in human-like text conversations and integrate seamlessly with business websites, mobile apps, and popular messaging platforms. The amount of information, the flurry of events, and the things that need to be booked can be overwhelming. Finding the right trips, booking flights and hotels, looking for a travel agency… Some airports like Lyon Airport and Frankfurt Airport use a travel bot to provide travelers with airport guides, flight status, and information about airport lounges, shops, restaurants, and more. In addition, a travel bot can keep customers up-to-date on any changes or disruptions to their travel plans, such as flight delays or cancellations.

Top 9 Real Estate Chatbot Use Cases & Best Practices in 2024

Think of them as your digital travel agents, available 24/7, ready to assist with anything from booking flights to finding the perfect hotel. They’re not just programmed for responses; they’re designed to understand and adapt to your travel style. Travel chatbots are your first line of support when answering your customers’ common questions.

If you are wondering if there is a difference between Conversational AI and bots, check out our Chatbot vs Conversational AI post. To experience its features, you can join the free trial and enjoy full access. The latest version of ChatBot uses AI to quickly and accurately provide generated answers to customer questions by scanning designated resources like your website or help center. Timely and correct responses are especially important during the COVID-19 outbreak, when travel guidelines between the countries can change daily. Cem’s work has been cited by leading global publications including Business Insider, Forbes, Washington Post, global firms like Deloitte, HPE, NGOs like World Economic Forum and supranational organizations like European Commission. There is a clearly defined role for both the TMC and the Travel bot in the current corporate travel landscape.

For example, a chatbot at a travel agency may reach out to a customer with a promotional discount for a car rental service after solving an issue related to a hotel reservation. This can streamline the booking experience for the customer while also benefiting your bottom line. From making it to the airport on time to leaving the hotel before checkout, many travelers focus their energy on doing things quickly and efficiently—they want their customer support experience to be the same. According to the Zendesk Customer Experience Trends Report 2023, 72 percent of customers desire fast service.

Welcome the Bot

Yes, a travel chatbot can effectively manage customer complaints and queries by providing timely responses, resolving common issues, and escalating complex situations to human agents when necessary. Every interaction with a chatbot is an opportunity to gather valuable customer data. Businesses can analyze this data to understand customer preferences and behaviors, enabling them to offer more personalized and targeted travel recommendations. Chatbots offer an intuitive, conversational interface that simplifies the booking process, making it as easy as chatting with a friend. This ease of use enhances the customer experience, making them more likely to return to your platform for future travel needs.

The perfect answer to this is a team of customer service bots that are available 24/7 across multiple channels, automating the different tasks required to meet the customer’s need, and handing over to a human agent if necessary. Moreover, the emergence of generative AI is set to revolutionize how brands craft their identity and engage with customers. By leveraging the power of AI-generated content, travel companies can create highly personalized and engaging experiences that resonate with their target audience, ultimately strengthening brand loyalty and driving business growth. Verloop is a conversational platform that can handle tasks from answering FAQs to lead capture and scheduling demos. It acts as a sales representative, ensuring your business operations run smoothly 24/7.

They can also recommend and provide coupons for restaurants or cafes which the travel agency has deals with. Travel chatbots could also be deployed to handle redundant questions such as policy questions, baggage fees, customer support, and limited booking capabilities. Progressive TMCs could use chatbots to reduce call volumes answering simple questions about policy or travel options. Travel bots will enable TMCs to combine human service with technology to create a more advanced level of customer service and to cut costs. FCM believe that travel bots, such as Sam, have been developed to provide an additional interface for travellers, which will complement but never replace the skills and insights of the TMC. The travel expert will always have a key role to play when it comes to managing business travel for large corporations.

Travel bot is the latest trend that companies are leveraging on to transform the travel experience digitally. Travel chatbots are chatbots that provide effective, 24/7 support to travelers by leveraging AI technology. Like other types of chatbots, travel chatbots engage in text-based chats with customers to offer quick resolutions, from personalized travel recommendations to real-time trip updates around the clock. Common functions of a travel chatbot include handling flight and hotel bookings, providing real-time travel updates, offering personalized travel recommendations, and supporting customers with their inquiries and complaints. The travel industry is experiencing a digital renaissance, and at the heart of this transformation are travel chatbots.

With Botsonic, businesses can effortlessly integrate chatbots anywhere using basic scripts and API keys, making it hassle-free. The chatbot builder has a user-friendly “drag-and-drop” interface that allows easy customization options such as naming the chatbot, choosing a color scheme, adding a logo, and incorporating a tagline and contact details. ChatBot is a highly advanced tool specifically created to enhance the customer experience.

Their chatbot’s automated FAQ answering lets customers check dates and enquire about their hotel’s facilities. Customers can also cancel their bookings through the chatbot app and find out the status of their refund. Faced with the challenge of addressing over 40,000 daily travel queries, Tiket.com sought to enhance operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. They adopted Yellow.ai’s dynamic AI agent, Travis, to transform their customer experience. Before making a final decision about travel plans, users may have questions about travel insurance, travel requirements and restrictions, estimated road tolls, etc. Chatbots can answer FAQs, and handle these inquiries without needing a live agent to be involved.

To learn more future of conversational AI/chatbots, feel free to read our article Top 5 Expectations Concerning the Future of Conversational AI. Chatbots typically have access to live data from airports or departure stations. Therefore, upon arrival at the destination location, travellers can ask the  chatbots to learn where the luggage claim area is, or on which carousel the baggage will be on. A survey has shown that 87 % of users would interact with a travel chatbot if it could save them time and money. TMCs are uniquely positioned to assist with https://chat.openai.com/ because they have intimate knowledge of the business traveller, both in institutional and anecdotal knowledge. Travel bots are incredibly well equipped to work within the framework of established travel policies and routine transactions.

sample questions

Chatbots provide instant responses to customer inquiries, reducing the time from initial questions to booking confirmations. This speed enhances the customer experience and increases the likelihood of securing bookings, as prompt replies often translate to satisfied clients. AI-enabled chatbots can understand users’ behavior and generate cross-selling opportunities by offering them flight + hotel packages, car rental options, discounts on tours and other similar activities.

Implementing a chatbot for travel can benefit your business and improve your customer experience (CX). Travel chatbots can help businesses in the travel industry meet this expectation, and consumers are ready for it. Our research found that 73 percent expect more interactions with artificial intelligence (AI) in their daily lives and believe it will improve customer service quality. When a customer types a question into the chatbot, it uses natural language processing (NLP) algorithms to understand the meaning of the question and provides a relevant response. This can save businesses time and resources, while also providing customers with quick and accurate answers to their questions.

It helps them grow their customer base and foster customer engagement and loyalty amongst their existing customers. According to a research by Expedia Media Solutions, people visit an average of 38 websites while planning their trips.A travel bot can provide all the answers that travelers look for on these websites. Travel chatbot provides contextual responses to the queries of the customer.

Whether it’s a relaxing beach getaway or a road trip touring your favorite national parks, a travel or tourism chatbot can provide personalized travel recommendations. This may include things to do, places to stay, and transportation options based on travel needs and preferences. You can think of a travel chatbot as a versatile AI travel agent on call 24/7. Verloop.io is an AI-powered customer service platform with chatbot functionality. Users can customize their chatbot to help travelers and provide support in more than 20 international languages. A travel bot can also answer simple questions and point customers toward helpful resources.A travel bot can be set up to simply answer standard queries.

Let Travel Bots Do the Talking

Travel chatbots streamline the booking process by quickly sifting through options based on user preferences, offering relevant choices, and handling booking transactions, thus increasing efficiency and accuracy. Chatbots can facilitate reservation cancellations without hand-overs to live agents. Tasks such as checking flight information, routine booking, changing traveller information and even checking weather in your target destination are perfect for the chatbot. While the bot may help you rebook, it’s the human-to-human sympathy when you call a representative that will give a brand it’s customer service cred. Botsonic is a no-code AI travel chatbot builder designed for the travel industry.

• Travel chatbots can help you deliver multilingual customer support by automatically translating conversations and transferring travelers to human agents who speak the same language.
• An example of an airline chatbot is an AI-powered assistant on an airline’s website or app that helps passengers check flight statuses, book tickets, receive boarding information, and access customer support.
• Travel chatbots are the new navigators of the tourism world, offering a seamless blend of technology and personal touch.
• A Booking Bot takes your customers on a journey that begins with a booking confirmation and continues over a period of time to the completion of the trip and beyond.
• By analyzing customer preferences and past behaviors, chatbots can make timely suggestions for additional services or upgrades, enhancing the customer’s travel experience while increasing your business’s revenue.

Chatbots and conversational AI are often used synonymously—but they shouldn’t be. Understand the differences before determining which technology is best for your customer service experience. Collecting feedback is a great way to ensure you’re meeting customer needs. You can program your chatbot to ask for customer feedback, such as a review or rating, at the end of an interaction. This allows businesses to gain valuable insights into what they’re doing well and where they can improve.

This shift not only improved customer satisfaction but also allowed human agents to focus more empathetically on complex issues. By leveraging these benefits, travel businesses can enhance efficiency, customer satisfaction, and profitability. Chatbots, especially those powered by sophisticated platforms like Chat PG Yellow.ai, are not just tools; they are partners in delivering exceptional travel experiences. By analyzing customer preferences and past behaviors, chatbots can make timely suggestions for additional services or upgrades, enhancing the customer’s travel experience while increasing your business’s revenue.

This innovative approach led to significant improvements in commuter satisfaction, handling over 15 million messages and processing thousands of travel card recharges. Coupled with outbound awareness campaigns, Dottie played a pivotal role in achieving an average customer satisfaction score of 87%. A 50% deflection rate in product inquiries and over 5,000 users onboarded within just six weeks.

• AI-based travel chatbots serve as travel companions, offering continuous assistance, entertainment, and personalized recommendations from first greeting to farewell.
• This real-time information ensures travelers are well-informed and can make timely decisions, improving their overall travel experience.
• In this article we discuss the benefits and top 8 use cases of chatbots in the travel industry.
• This lowers your total cost of ownership (TCO) and speeds up your time to value (TTV).

Ensuring that the appropriate chatbot is available to interact with your customers is crucial. Flow XO is an AI chatbot platform that lets businesses create code-free chatbots. With Flow XO, users can configure their chatbot to collect information (such as a traveler’s email address), greet visitors, and answer simple questions. Yellow.ai is a conversational AI platform that enables users to build bots with a drag-and-drop interface and over 150 pre-built templates. Users can also deploy chat and voice bots across multiple languages and communication channels, including email, SMS, and Messenger. Follow along to learn about travel chatbots, their benefits, and the best options for your business.

Verloop is user-friendly with a drag-and-drop interface, making integration effortless. Training the Verloop bot is easy, providing a seamless customer experience. The platform supports automated workflows and responses, and it offers chat suggestions powered by generative AI.

Salesforce is the CRM market leader and Salesforce Contact Genie enables multi-channel live chat supported by AI-driven assistants. Salesforce Contact Center enables workflow automation for many branches of the CRM and especially for the customer service operations by leveraging chatbot and conversational AI technologies. In today’s travel business, the pace of technological change and an increasingly tech-savvy and demanding consumer are giving travel and tourism operators a run for their money. The airline industry alone reported increased passenger volumes in 2017, reaching a record-breaking 4.1 billion passengers on global flights. It is essential to make it easy for your customers to plan their trip or respond to their concerns while on the trip. This can significantly affect the travel experience, improve customer satisfaction, and increase customer loyalty.

Additionally, global brands such as Expedia, Booking.com, and Skyscanner have adopted (conversational commerce) chatbots to process booking, recommend travel plans, and provide promotions and campaigns to current and potential users. This adoption will encourage medium and small size travel agencies to consider chatbots as a way to increase customer satisfaction. A Booking Bot takes your customers on a journey that begins with a booking confirmation and continues over a period of time to the completion of the trip and beyond. The bot can engage proactively throughout the lifecycle, offering options to book related services such as transportation or rental car, accommodation, event tickets, restaurants, local activities, upgrades, and more. The bot can also reach out at intervals prior to a customer’s trip or event to advise them on local attractions or events, shopping, dining, weather, traffic, or promotions and respond to any queries or requests.

You can deploy AI-powered chatbots in a few clicks and begin offloading repetitive tasks using cutting-edge technology like generative AI. These chatbots come pre-trained on billions of data points so they immediately understand the intent, sentiment, and language of each customer request. As a result, they can send accurate responses and provide a great overall experience. The chatbot becomes their first point of contact, guiding them through the process of locating and retrieving their luggage and even offering compensation options like discounts on future bookings. This level of immediate and empathetic response can transform a stressful situation into a testament to your travel business’s commitment to customer care. Travel chatbots are the new navigators of the tourism world, offering a seamless blend of technology and personal touch.

Based on the responses, the chatbot can suggest future destinations or travel tips, keeping the traveler engaged and excited about their next adventure. The travel chatbot immediately notifies them, providing alternative flight options and even suggesting airport lounges where they can relax while they wait. This proactive approach turns potential travel hassles into minor, manageable blips in their journey. You can foun additiona information about ai customer service and artificial intelligence and NLP. Chatbots excel in handling repetitive tasks such as issuing booking confirmations, sending reminders, and providing itinerary updates. This automation ensures accuracy and consistency in these routine communications, allowing your staff to dedicate more time to personalized customer service and complex problem-solving. Whether it’s a late-night query about a hotel in Rome or an early-morning flight change, these virtual assistants are always on, ensuring no customer is left without support, irrespective of time zones or geography.