President TUI Sebastian Ebel expects that thanks to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) there will be a profound change in the sale of tourist services, as he stated in an interview for “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”.
In the future, he says, customers will be able to make reservations holidays directly through AI agents such as ChatGPT, simply by entering information such as “two weeks in Majorca to play golf”. The technical integration of such functions is already implemented; only a connection to major AI platforms is needed.
“Fully integrated AI agents will be available within 12 months or less,” Ebel estimates. He believes that traditional Google search is losing its importance, while channels such as TikTok and AI-powered recommendations via ChatGPT are gaining importance in the booking process.
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Holidays and rising prices. TUI president: these customers still have money for travel
But it's not just sales that are changing; customer booking behavior is also evolving – especially under the influence of rising prices. “TUI benefits from our strong position in the four- and five-star hotel segment. These customers still have money to travel,” says Ebel. However, this no longer applies to all groups, such as families with children, who can only travel during school holidays.
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This would mean, among other things, that customers would choose new, cheaper destinations. “And fortunately, there are destinations with a very good price-quality ratio. I can highly recommend Egypt, for example, especially to families,” advises Ebel.
Source: businessinsider.de
