Skift Take
Elizabeth Casolo
Expedia Group's generated AI travel assistant Romie will be available to join trip planning group chats.
At the Skift Data + AI Summit on Tuesday, Expedia Group chief architect Rajesh Naidu spoke about the company's burgeoning AI tools and what they mean for travelers.
For example, you can add Romie to your WhatsApp or iMessage messaging chats and it can provide personalized recommendations based on your texts or even rearrange your plans if you're on vacation. Romie is still in its early stages and is undergoing alpha testing at EG Labs.
According to the Expedia Group website, Romie can also act as a concierge and update loved ones on your travel status.
Here's an example Expedia Group shared with Skift: Let's say you're planning a family trip to Chicago and one of you is interested in dinosaurs. When that detail comes up in a group chat that includes Romie, the Assistant will recommend museums and experiences in Chicago that are geared toward dinosaur lovers.
“[Romie] “You're looking at the conversation with real intent and understanding,” Naidu says, “so planning for group chats is really important.”
Naidu acknowledged that some are skeptical about the future of AI-powered travel assistants, but believes Romy's ability to assess conversations could be useful.
“[A traditional chatbot] “A robot doesn't know anything about you, it doesn't know your preferences, it doesn't understand the context,” Naidu says. “I think what's different about Romy is that it learns from you, it's there with you, and it gets smarter over time.”
Some travelers might be uneasy about having AI guests join group chats, and Skift asked if privacy concerns were a possibility.
“We're asking that it be put into the context of the travel conversation, so the burden also falls on the traveller,” Naidu said. “Secondly, there are guardrails on our side as well.”
Naidu added that the company needs to be “proactive” to avoid running into privacy issues.
Data and AI beyond Romy
Romie isn't Expedia Group's only AI application. Naidu said Expedia Group is also using AI tools to help its accommodation and hospitality partners improve their content strategies. Expedia Group can inform its partners' content by analyzing bookings, traveler feedback and refund data.
Expedia Group is also putting a special focus on content for vacation rentals.
“Property owners and property managers are leveraging things like generative AI to submit property descriptions and other content to better summarize and enhance those descriptions and content,” Naidu said.
Photo credit: Rajesh Naidu, chief architect, Expedia Group, at Skift Data + AI Summit 2024.
