Bots: The Future of Brick and Mortar?

Summary

Numerous travel companies have launched chatbots and AI-powered virtual assistants over the past several years. Travel startups, suppliers and intermediaries have sought to capitalize on the popularity of messaging platforms and voice interfaces such as Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home. From simple bots on Slack or Facebook Messenger to AI-powered apps targeting end-to-end travel planning, chatbot technology is playing a growing role in travel planning. However, some of these early efforts proved to be more frustrating than helpful. If a bot failed to understand a request or had limited capabilities, frustrated travelers would reach a dead end. Several chatbot startups found a way to turn these limitations into a feature rather than a bug.