Get ready for a smoother, smarter, and more stress-free travel experience! Expedia Group, a leader in the travel industry, has unveiled a wave of groundbreaking innovations at its annual EXPLORE™ conference. This includes the much-anticipated launch of Romie™, the travel industry’s first AI assistant designed to be your personalized travel companion throughout your entire journey. In addition to Romie, Expedia Group announced a comprehensive Spring Product Release featuring a suite of AI-powered features to streamline the travel planning process for users and empower travel partners with valuable tools.
Introducing Romie: Your AI Travel Buddy
Imagine having a travel agent, concierge, and personal assistant all rolled into one – that’s the power of Romie. This innovative AI assistant is designed to learn your preferences, suggest destinations and activities, and even help you navigate unexpected changes during your trip.
Personalized Travel Planning at Your Fingertips
Romie integrates seamlessly with your travel planning process. Here’s how it works:
- Group Chat Trip Planning: Traveling with a group? Invite Romie to join your text message chat and ask for suggestions on destinations, activities, or anything else related to your trip.
- Smart Search: Romie can analyze your group chat and translate those discussions into actionable travel searches. You can further personalize these searches by adding filters like rooftop views or early check-in to find the perfect hotel.
- Building Your Itinerary: Like a meticulous travel concierge, Romie helps you construct your dream itinerary. It can pull in travel information from your emails and suggest restaurants and activities near your hotel that cater to your group’s interests.
Dynamic Assistance Throughout Your Trip
Romie doesn’t stop being helpful once you’ve booked your trip. Here’s how it assists with the go:
- Real-time Updates: Romie keeps your itinerary updated in real-time, ensuring everyone in your travel group can stay on the same page.
- Weather and Disruption Management: Encountered unexpected weather changes or travel disruptions? Romie will proactively suggest alternative options to keep your trip on track.
2024 Spring Product Release: AI Powering a Smoother Travel Experience
Expedia Group’s 2024 Spring Product Release leverages the power of AI to simplify various aspects of the travel experience for users, from planning and booking to managing reservations and getting customer support.
Traveler Product Highlights
- Personalized Itinerary Builder: This innovative feature allows users to create customized itineraries based on AI-generated recommendations tailored to their trip preferences and saved items. This feature will be available on the Expedia app in the U.S. this summer.
- Self-Service Booking Management: Hassle-free travel management is now a reality. Users can make changes, cancellations, and air credit redemptions directly within the Expedia app or website. This feature will be available globally on Expedia and Hotels.com this summer.
- Get Help Fast: No more wading through endless FAQs! Thanks to AI advancements, Expedia and Hotels.com users in the U.S. can now access a completely revamped Help Center that provides quick and easy solutions to their travel queries.
- Enhanced Price and Destination Comparison Tools: Finding the perfect travel deal and destination just got easier. Users can compare hotel and flight prices across various dates to find options that fit their budget. Additionally, a new AI-powered tool called GenAI helps users discover and compare new destinations based on their preferences. Both features will be available on Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo globally this summer.
- Guest Review Summary: Save time sorting through mountains of reviews! Expedia, powered by GenAI technology, now summarizes guest reviews upfront, allowing users to make informed decisions quickly.
Empowering Travel Partners with Advanced Tools
The 2024 Spring Product Release doesn’t just benefit travelers; it provides travel partners with valuable tools to enhance their businesses.
Partner Product Highlights
- Fraud Prevention as a Service (PaaS): Financial losses due to fraudulent bookings are a significant concern for travel businesses. Expedia Group’s FPaaS solution helps travel partners screen bookings, reduce unauthorized account access, and minimize chargeback losses.
- Advertiser-Funded Loyalty: Travel partners can now leverage Expedia Group’s OneKeyCash™ program to incentivize travelers to book hotels through their platform.
- Optimized Distribution for Hoteliers: This feature allows regional chains and independent hotels to gain more control over their inventory and pricing strategies.
