Imagine a world where your entire travel experience—from booking to boarding to sightseeing—is seamlessly personalized for you, with no delays, no missed connections, and no hassle.
AI in travel has the potential to take us there, and platforms like MakeMyTrip are pushing the boundaries to make this a reality. But is it all it’s cracked up to be? And are we really ready to hand over the reins to artificial intelligence when it comes to our journeys?
The promise of AI is clear: hyper-personalized trips, faster bookings, and hassle-free customer service. The reality, however, is still catching up. So, what does MakeMyTrip’s ramp-up of Generative AI (Gen AI) mean for you as a traveler, and where does AI fit in the grand scheme of travel’s future? Let’s break down what’s happening, what’s missing, and where the real opportunities lie.
Featured Image Credit: Pexels / Bradley Hook
How MakeMyTrip Is Using AI—And Why It Matters
MakeMyTrip has recognized that AI isn’t just a buzzword—it’s becoming the backbone of how we travel. Whether you’re booking a weekend getaway or a month-long adventure, AI is already playing a bigger role than you might realize.
Personalized Travel at Scale
AI’s ability to offer highly tailored travel recommendations is a game-changer. MakeMyTrip uses generative AI to offer highly customized suggestions, analyzing past searches and bookings to curate relevant flights, hotels, and local experiences. Now, the platform can even summarize hotel reviews tailored to different types of travelers—for instance, families versus solo adventurers—offering recommendations suited to each visitor’s unique needs. This is the next step in personalization, where AI takes over the guesswork and does the planning for you, catering to your unique tastes.
But here’s the question: Can AI truly capture the nuance of human preferences? Yes, it might suggest a beach resort because you’ve searched for tropical destinations before, but what about those spontaneous moments—those quirky, off-the-beaten-path finds? AI might not yet have the emotional intelligence to fully understand the “why” behind our travel choices. For now, it’s efficient, but is it inspiring?
Voice-Activated Booking and Support
By integrating with Microsoft’s AI-powered voice tech, MakeMyTrip allows users to book trips, check flight statuses, and get travel advice via voice commands. This service is particularly useful for travelers who prefer convenience over typing out searches or dealing with call centers. Need to check in, book a flight, or find nearby attractions? Just ask. It’s as simple as that.
But again, there’s a catch. AI-driven voice services are still evolving. While they’re efficient for straightforward tasks, they can stumble when faced with more complex questions or requests. In those moments, nothing beats speaking with a real human who knows the ins and outs of the industry.
What’s Still Missing in AI-Driven Travel?
For all its potential, AI in travel still has a long way to go. Right now, AI excels at efficiency, but travel is about more than just efficiency—it’s about experiences, emotions, and discovery. Here’s where AI still falls short:
Understanding the Emotional Side of Travel
AI can tell you the best time to visit Paris based on weather data, but it can’t understand that you might want to visit a specific museum because it’s been on your bucket list since childhood. It might recommend a hotel based on price and proximity, but it won’t know that the one around the corner with the quirky décor is more your style. Travel is personal, and AI’s ability to tap into those personal motivations is still limited.
Anticipating the Unexpected
AI is great when everything goes according to plan, but travel is full of surprises—missed flights, unexpected delays, or last-minute changes. Can AI handle the chaos? Not yet. When things go wrong, travelers still want human intervention—someone who can empathize, offer real-time solutions, and adjust plans on the fly. AI can assist, but it’s not ready to replace that human touch.
What’s the Future for AI in Travel?
While AI is transforming travel, we’re not yet in a world where it completely replaces traditional systems. The future of AI in travel will likely be a hybrid model—where the convenience of AI meets the expertise of human agents. Here’s where I think the biggest opportunities lie:
Hyper-Personalized Travel Experiences
We’re moving toward a future where AI could create entire trips that feel handcrafted just for you. Imagine an AI system that knows your preferences so well it can recommend hidden gems you wouldn’t have found otherwise—local restaurants, lesser-known cultural experiences, or boutique hotels that fit your vibe. This level of personalization is possible, but we’re still a few iterations away from it becoming a reality.
End-to-End Travel Solutions
The holy grail of AI in travel would be a system that handles your trip from start to finish, with no hiccups along the way. Bookings, check-ins, itinerary changes, real-time updates—everything happening in sync, seamlessly integrated across platforms. While MakeMyTrip and other platforms are pushing in this direction, we’re not quite there yet.
Who Else Is In the Game?
MakeMyTrip isn’t the only player in the AI travel race. Competitors like Expedia, Booking.com, and even Airbnb are all investing in AI to enhance the travel experience. Google, with its predictive AI for flight prices and travel trends, is also a big player.
But it’s important to note that while everyone is rushing to integrate AI, no one has cracked the code just yet. The companies that figure out how to merge technology with human intuition will come out on top. In the meantime, travelers should approach AI-driven solutions as tools, not replacements for human expertise.
Final Thoughts: What’s Next for AI and Travel?
AI has already proven its value in making travel more efficient, but we’re still a long way from it completely reshaping the industry. The future of travel will be a blend of AI-driven convenience and human expertise. Companies like MakeMyTrip are at the forefront of this transformation, but as travelers, we still crave that personal touch—the spontaneous moments, the hidden gems, the experiences that AI can’t predict.
So, while AI will undoubtedly play a bigger role in how we travel, it’s important to remember that travel is about discovery, surprise, and connection. And for now, those are things that AI just can’t replicate.
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Featured Image Credit: Pexels / Bradley Hook.
For transparency, this content was partly developed with AI assistance and carefully curated by an experienced editor to be informative and ensure accuracy.
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