Booking Holdings spends nearly $9 billion a year to reach travelers. Its CFO explains how AI is changing trip planning
Source: Fortune ·
Ewout Steenbergen says the company is using AI to make travel more personalized and proactive.
From the source
Good morning. The biggest impact of AI on travel may happen before the traveler ever checks into a hotel or boards a plane. At the Fortune AIQ Summit on Oct. 1, I interviewed Ewout Steenbergen, EVP and CFO of Booking Holdings (No. 169 on the Fortune 500), which owns and operates several major online travel brands, including Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, OpenTable, and Rentalcars.com. Steenbergen described a future in which AI makes travel planning more seamless, personalized, and proactive. That could mean suggesting an indoor visit to the Louvre when rain threatens a Paris itinerary, automatically moving a restaurant reservation after a delayed flight, or recommending an activity based on a traveler’s preferences and open time. The prize is not simply a better chatbot. It is what Booking calls a “connected trip”: an integrated experience that ties together flights, hotels, restaurants, rental cars, and activities. And, in doing so, potentially creates more loyalty, trust,…