The search for good descriptive information and some perfect destinationthe reservation of plane ticketsthere selection of hotels – these aspects of travel are now influenced by theArtificial intelligence (IA). AI is revolutionizing the entire sector, and a French player, the travel agency Flight-purchaseis one of the spearheads.
AI offers countless growth opportunities for travel professionals. Giants like the American group Expedia have already adopted it, integrating tools such as ChatGPT to answer users’ questions. In France, where tourism accounts for 7 to 8% of GDP, Bourses-des-vols is in the lead.
Pioneer of technological innovation
Bourse-des-vols is not a newcomer to technological novelty. Since its beginnings, this French tour operator has been at the forefront of innovation, inaugurating new technologies such as geolocation by IP of customers to present personalized offers. Ten years before Kayak, Bourse des Vols had developed the multi-company and tour-operator air fare comparison. Today, she continues to innovate by developing AI solutions and experimenting with them in her daily activities.
Partner and support of scientific research
The travel agency is not working alone in this quest for innovation. In partnership with the Léonard de Vinci Institute in Nanterre, with Jean Rohmer, president of the Fredik R. Bull Institute and professor of science, and supported by Jean-Gabriel Ganascia, professor at Sorbonne-University and AI researcher, a of the greatest French experts in AI, it invests massively in scientific research. This partnership strengthens its position as a leader in the application of AI to the travel sector.
Data collection and processing
For Fabrice Dariot, CEO of Bourse-des-vols: “ We had put tourist databases online before the invention of the smartphone. Artificial intelligence is a new deal in the same way as the mobile internet. The success of AI in travel and aviation lies in the management of vast amounts of digital data, including online comments, real-time events and all structured data “. This data is now too large to be managed by traditional tools. According to him, AI must take into account daily comments published on forums and social networks to refine perceptions of tourist offers, process events in real time to diagnose trends, and take into account all structured data. (transport tickets, hotel descriptions, rates, etc.) in all formats (videos, files, etc.).
Practical and personalized applications
To take a concrete example, AI can predict air traffic delays and disruptions by analyzing historical flight data and weather patterns. Thus, the real-time exploitation of political and aeronautical news makes it possible to react, with a minimum of human decision, to any incident: from the fires in Rhodes to the closure of the skies of a country, the tour operator then modifies in real time its catalog. At Bourse-des-vols, AI is also used to analyze traveler preferences to provide more personalized offers, both in the airline and hotel sectors. With these AI summaries, travelers will be able to save time from reading all of a hotel’s reviews, while still having access to a unique property description based on real guest experiences.
An innovative tool for hotel reviews
The Bourse-des-vols team of experts, in collaboration with Professor Jean-Gabriel Ganascia, is working on an AI tool that will generate relevant summaries of customer reviews of hotels, saving travelers time and to have access to unique and relevant information such as the proximity of the hotel to the city center, the quality of the catering, etc.
The ethical challenges of AI
Despite these innovations, ethical challenges such as privacy and algorithmic bias remain. Bourse-des-vols is aware of these issues and is working on explainability of AI, also known as XAI (eXplainable AI), to address these concerns. ” By adopting a responsible and ethical approach, the travel industry can realize the full potential of AI while safeguarding the rights and interests of travelers “says Nadia Garnou, student in Master 2 Data, Learning, Knowledge (DAC) from the team of Professor Jean-Gabriel Ganascia.
Bourse-des-vols leads the way in researching and leveraging AI for the travel industry. Through an innovative and responsible approach, the travel agency is positioning itself as a French leader in the application of this technology, paving the way for a new era of personalized and efficient travel.
