Ai for Tourism: Exploring Strategy and Options for Travel Chatbots

AI chatbots are evolving into proactive, agentic tools that enhance every stage of the traveler journey, providing 24/7 instant support, handling inquiries like flight status, lost luggage, or visa info.

Examples include Heathrow’s Hallie (resolving 90% of queries autonomously) and multilingual platforms like Trengo, freeing human agents for complex issues.

Acting as virtual companions, they create personalized itineraries via natural conversation. Tools like Kayak on ChatGPT, Mindtrip, and Google Gemini offer tailored recommendations, price comparisons, and even multimodal plans from text or images.

Chatbots streamline reservations with live availability, payments, and upsells. Hopper predicts prices, Gondola compares loyalty options, while platforms like Flow XO enable in-chat bookings. They deliver targeted promotions, upsells (e.g., room upgrades via Canary Technologies), and analyze interactions for insights.

Virgin Atlantic announced on December 8, 2025, the launch of its Virgin Atlantic Concierge, an intelligent, always-on AI travel assistant now live on the Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Atlantic Holidays websites.

Powered by OpenAI technology and developed in partnership with Tomoro, this multi-modal AI concierge allows guests to interact via text, voice, or images for natural, conversational trip planning. It learns preferences, curates real-time personalized recommendations for flights and holidays, visualizes itineraries, handles Flying Club queries, and provides general support—all infused with Virgin Atlantic’s signature warmth and personality.

Chief Experience Officer Siobhan Fitzpatrick called it a step toward becoming “the most loved travel company,” blending human-like care with advanced tech. OpenAI and Tomoro leaders praised the intuitive, on-brand experience that elevates service at scale.

This positions Virgin Atlantic as a leader in AI-driven personalization in premium travel.

Libby

Libby, launched by NYC Tourism + Conventions, is an AI-powered travel chatbot designed to enhance the visitor experience across New York City’s five boroughs.

Named after the Statue of Liberty, Libby leverages GuideGeek technology from Matador Network to provide instant, personalized travel recommendations in 60 languages, making it accessible to global tourists and locals alike.

It draws on extensive NYC Tourism data and over 1,000 travel integrations to offer tailored suggestions, such as kid-friendly museums in Brooklyn, jazz clubs in Harlem, or dim sum spots in Queens, feeling like advice from a local friend.

Accessible via nyctourism.com (through a chat icon), WhatsApp, Instagram, and promoted on over 4,000 LinkNYC screens, Libby supports travelers in planning itineraries, finding hidden gems, and navigating the city in real time.

Following the success of Ellis, a meetings-focused AI chatbot that doubled traffic to NYC Tourism’s MICE site, Libby targets a broader audience, aligning with events like the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Its conversational, multilingual capabilities make it a game-changer for tourism, offering a seamless, no-code solution for personalized travel planning.

Chatbots

Libby is a powerful example of a chatbot strategy for tourism businesses—such as travel agencies, tour operators, hotels, or destination marketing organizations. The goal is it focuses on enhancing customer engagement, streamlining operations, and personalizing the travel experience.

For example, a travel agency might want a chatbot that answers questions about visa requirements, suggests romantic getaways for couples, and processes tour bookings. The chatbot should adopt a friendly, enthusiastic tone that reflects the excitement of travel,

The strategy revolves around three key objectives: enhancing customer service, driving conversions, and personalizing experiences. A chatbot can answer FAQs like “What are the best family-friendly activities in Paris?” or “Is breakfast included in my hotel stay?” It can also upsell services (e.g., spa packages, guided tours) and collect leads for future campaigns.

By integrating with a tourism business’s website and leveraging no-code platforms, the chatbot becomes a powerful tool that non-technical teams can manage and refine.

Kayak’s AI Chatbot Features

Kayak, a leading travel metasearch engine, has deeply integrated AI chatbots to revolutionize trip planning. While its original ChatGPT plugin (launched in 2023) has evolved or been superseded, Kayak now offers advanced in-house AI tools like AI Mode (launched October 2025 on the main site) and KAYAK.ai (an experimental lab since April 2025), powered by ChatGPT technology for conversational, real-time searches.

• Natural Language Search & Planning: Ask open-ended questions like “Where should I go for NYE partying?” or “Cheapest nonstop flights from NYC under $500.” The chatbot suggests destinations, itineraries, and deals based on preferences, budget, and real-time data.
• Personalized Recommendations: Tailors flights, hotels, rental cars, and activities. Supports filters (e.g., free breakfast, pet-friendly) with interactive toggles and comparison tables.
• Real-Time Pricing & Booking: Displays live prices, compares options, and links directly to bookings. Features like PriceCheck (upload screenshots/emails) verify if deals are the best.
• Advanced Capabilities: Handles complex queries (group travel, multi-city trips), remembers preferences (airports, airlines), and provides insights (best times to fly, destination details).
• Inspiration & Exploration: Suggests destinations with details like nonstop routes, top attractions, and transport tips.

These tools blend ChatGPT’s conversational power with Kayak’s vast travel data, making planning intuitive and efficient—ideal for early-stage brainstorming or precise searches. AI Mode brings this directly to Kayak.com, reducing friction.

As of 2026, Kayak continues experimenting, with voice support planned. This positions it as a proactive virtual travel assistant, streamlining everything from inspiration to booking.

Choosing the Right Platform

This article about Booking.com leveraging OpenAI’s advanced AI models to personalize travel recommendations and streamline bookings, highlights the scenario of utilizing enterprise scale, customized technology solutions to build chatbots, integrating vast datasets (e.g., hotel listings, user preferences) and real-time APIs for dynamic pricing and availability, requiring significant technical expertise and resources.

In contrast, the low-code platforms previously discussed—ChatBot, HubSpot, Botpress, Chatling, and Botsonic—enable non-technical users in tourism businesses to create chatbots using intuitive, no-code interfaces and pre-built templates.

These platforms allow staff to upload destination guides or FAQs into user-friendly backend portals, achieving similar goals (personalized recommendations, booking support) with minimal coding and lower costs. While the enterprise approach offers deeper customization and scalability for large organizations like Booking.com, low-code solutions provide faster deployment, affordability, and accessibility for smaller tourism businesses, sacrificing some advanced functionality for ease of use.

For tourism businesses, Chatling ($15/month, free tier with 250 messages) or Botsonic ($16/month, 7-day trial) are top choices due to their simplicity, fast setup, and affordable pricing. HubSpot (free tier, $15/month for advanced) is ideal for businesses using its CRM to personalize travel recommendations. ChatBot ($49/month, 14-day trial) offers robust tourism templates, while Botpress (free tier, $89/month) suits those needing advanced integrations like booking APIs, though it’s less beginner-friendly.

All platforms provide backend portals for non-technical staff to update content, ensuring flexibility as offerings change.

MyTrip.AI

MyTrip.AI takes this a step further, offering this same low code approach, furthermore tailored specifically for travel businesses. Mytrip is a generative AI platform designed specifically for travel professionals, including tour operators, travel agencies, OTAs, and hotels.

It provides AI-powered chatbots and tools to enhance customer interactions, streamline operations, and boost sales. Unlike general-purpose no-code platforms, MyTrip.AI is tailored to the tourism industry, offering features like personalized travel recommendations, multilingual support, and integrations with booking systems.

Its no-code interface and backend portal make it accessible for non-technical staff, while its travel-focused AI capabilities align with enterprise-grade personalization.

Example Strategy in Action

Imagine a boutique travel agency specializing in European tours. Using Chatling, the team uploads a PDF of tour packages and links to their website’s destination pages. In the visual builder, they create a flow: the chatbot asks, “Where are you dreaming of traveling?” and offers options like “Italy,” “France,” or “Custom Itinerary.”

If a user selects “Italy,” the chatbot suggests a “Tuscany Wine Tour” based on the uploaded data. Staff update the backend portal with new deals (e.g., a summer discount) and monitor analytics to see which tours attract the most interest. The chatbot is embedded on the website and WhatsApp, capturing leads and guiding bookings 24/7, reducing staff workload by 30% and boosting conversions by 20%, as seen in similar use cases.

Travel Chatbots

Libby is a powerful example of a chatbot strategy for tourism businesses—such as travel agencies, tour operators, hotels, or destination marketing organizations. The goal is it focuses on enhancing customer engagement, streamlining operations, and personalizing the travel experience.

For example, a travel agency might want a chatbot that answers questions about visa requirements, suggests romantic getaways for couples, and processes tour bookings. The chatbot should adopt a friendly, enthusiastic tone that reflects the excitement of travel,

The strategy revolves around three key objectives: enhancing customer service, driving conversions, and personalizing experiences. A chatbot can answer FAQs like “What are the best family-friendly activities in Paris?” or “Is breakfast included in my hotel stay?” It can also upsell services (e.g., spa packages, guided tours) and collect leads for future campaigns.

By integrating with a tourism business’s website and leveraging no-code platforms, the chatbot becomes a powerful tool that non-technical teams can manage and refine.