Travel Forward
experienced the capabilities and limitations of these products, consumers have the perspective needed to marvel over what a sophisticated bot can do and are more adept at adjusting when their first attempt at interaction fails. Chatbot design requires understanding the business goal you are trying to solve, and then viewing it from the customer’s perspective. Even then, only when actual travellers start using a bot do their reactions, needs and feelings become clear. Continual improvement in the chatbot’s functionality should be built into the process. In order to drive business efficiencies, chatbots will need to be broadly adopted, and that won’t happen unless travellers are satisfied with the experience. Travel companies must also learn which situations lend themselves to a chatbot… and which don’t. Especially early on, chatbots should be selectively deployed or used only for simple tasks or information requests. Sentiment analysis can further help to identify customers who might be a good fit for a chatbot and to avoid further angering an already frustrated traveller.
Chatbots in travel
Already, travel chatbots have made significant improvements over their first iterations. Travel companies are already succeeding in shifting some of their customer service loads to chatbots, and as conversational interfaces continue to improve, those who have invested in developing chatbot expertise will see more benefits and efficiencies. To date, many travel bots have been fairly rudimentary. They are either stateless (ie, they respond only to questions as asked and do not keep track of the conversation)
or semi-stateful (ie, their recall is limited to the current conversation only). The exciting applications unfold when chatbots become stateful: capable of keeping track of the entire history of communication with the traveller. Privacy laws are likely to impact how companies can use personal data. However, with the customer’s consent, this level of
sophistication can enable personalised service
and provide opportunities to delight travellers in a way that will make interacting with a
computer rather than a person much more appealing. While more than half of travellers indicate they
would be comfortable completing various travel-related activities via text or chat, they are somewhat less inclined to do so via chatbot. However, 4 in 10 travellers still indicate that they would be comfortable chatting with a computer-powered assistant, and personalised interactions would likely help to tip the scales.
■Taken from Phocuswright’s Bots: a bright future, or destined for the scrapheap? report, September 2018. Phocuswright is exhibiting at Travel Forward on stand TT700
How major travel brands are using bots
Alaska Air (web-based): This bot answers a range of frequently asked questions and helps travellers find what they need on the Alaska Air website. Within the first year, “Jenn” eliminated the need for a live chat function. Amtrak (website navigation bot): “Julie” answers questions and helps travellers to find what they are looking for on the Amtrak website. Appearing in a pop-up window, Julie can respond to questions throughout the user’s session.
Booking.com
(Facebook Messenger, mobile app, web): The OTA’s Booking Assistant chatbot is designed to respond to FAQs, including those related to payment, transportation, arrival/ departure time, cancellation requests, and more.
Booking.com has stated that its Booking Assistant now resolves more than half of queries in less than five minutes. Expedia (Facebook
Messenger, Skype and Amazon Alexa Skill): Expedia’s messenger bot can help users with managing trips, as well as flight and hotel search, redirecting to the Expedia website for booking. Expedia has also launched an Amazon Alexa skill that travellers can use to get personalised information, including flight status, car rental and loyalty information.
Hello Hipmunk (Facebook Messenger, Slack, Skype): Hipmunk’s chatbot offerings provide a virtual-assistant experience, allowing users to get vacation ideas based on themes (eg, adventure, beach, romantic) and explore flight and hotel options (pictured below). Kayak (Facebook Messenger, Slack and Amazon Alexa Skill): Kayak’s Messenger chatbot is capable of remembering previous conversations and can help travellers with flights, hotels, rental cars, trip updates and activities. The bot relies on Kayak search history to personalise results, redirecting to the Kayak website for booking. The Slack bot, which is able to track flights and make purchases, can be used for personal chat or group messaging. Travellers can also use Amazon Alexa to book, track flights and get answers to FAQs. KLM (Facebook Messenger and Google Home): KLM’s smart assistant BB can book flights, deliver a user’s boarding pass, help with seat changes and provide flight status updates. BB also works with Google Assistant, including Google Home, where she can help search for flights and assist travellers with packing (pictured left).
Booking.com’s Booking Assistant has been built entirely in-house
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