Perhaps that’s not surprising, given how often the word has been used by the bosses of online travel giants recently as they figure out their futures.
“I do have to wonder, though, whether trust is just a new word for something actually working,” said Lisa Katsouraki, an independent advisor for Ennea Capital Partners.
During a session to wrap up the main themes of the event, Katsouraki was joined by Timothy O’Neil-Dunne of travel and aviation consultancy T2Impact and Mario Gavira, CMO of Travelier.
Gavira said that while AI has been accepted as an efficiency driver and cost reduction tool, so far there have been no “consumer-facing AI killer features.”
“When the web came, we could write emails to each other and get a real time response. Or when the app came, we could use Google Maps, we had a GPS in our pocket” he said. “AI so far on the consumer-facing side, other than the chatbot itself—is someone going to step in?”
He added that while chatbots are in widespread usage for conversational search, there is little to no conversion.
“It's not working. Everybody who says that they see this being the new search and booking funnel—it’s not true.”
The discussion moved on to how travel startups navigate the current landscape, with O’Neil-Dunne skeptical of their ability to survive and thrive.
“I think the moat around the big players and the fact that they understand the customer better, and that serviceability—if you like—that is now real, and the startups don't have that chance to tap into it. So I'm sad because I love startups.”
The panel also touched on regulation and the impact of the Digital Services Act in Europe, whether the industry will be better in 10 years and the potential redistribution of human resources.
Watch the full session below with Phocuswright’s Lorraine Sileo.
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Tags: Mario Gavira Travelier artificial intelligence Phocuswright Europe