Growing Personalized Travel Tech, AI, Affiliates, and more
As someone who works with all forms of media, tech, and communications, I take a special interest in the world of travel given both my background and enthusiasm for the subject. I have covered a few of Skift’s recent Global Forum’s in NYC, which explore a great number of topics in the industry, which to no surprise heavily featured technology and AI. Check out Skift’s Travel Tech Coverage and the Travel Tech 250 - Two hundred and fifty companies shaping the modern-day travel experience.
Shop some of my travel essentials / Travel Aunties / my children’s travel book
Even if you don’t work in these areas, they will affect you sooner than later, including your own personal AI assistant, so get ready. Travel technology spans a broad range of tools and solutions (think booking platforms, review sites, ride-hailing apps, virtual reality, chatbots, translation apps, digital payments, etc), and the advances allow travelers to easily discover, plan, book, navigate, and share their trips. Many advances have been experimented with for a long time by the industry giants, but most recently, things have sped up, including this past week:
Expedia Group started testing AI-powered features for search and travel planning, and also launched Travel Shops (The Amazon Shops for influencers). Aside from the chatbot AI many other companies are using, this form of personalization and peer recommendation are in line with cross-industry efforts
Google advances AI vision with launch of Project Astra assistant (heating up competition with OpenAI and Microsoft) - this will also integrate with Google flights and planning
Meta integrated AI into their social media platforms (WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Messenger) last month, which will also shape the future of search and planning
Bonus: Check out Pinterest’s Summer Travel Report
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