Start-up: AI agents poised to take over travel industry

NEW YORK: Dreaming of going on vacation but not sure where to go? Increasingly the answer — and how to get there, what to eat and where to stay — will come from advanced Al, rather than your friendly neighbour-hood travel agent.

- THOMAS URBAIN

Start-up Mindtrip's generative Alcan craft tailor-made itinerary in seconds from a simple text prompt, with suggestions for hotels, restaurants, sightseeing and activities.

After picking out their favourite options, travellers can have every step of the trip reserved in the app — or on partner websites that open directly to the relevant page.

“Instead of going to Google and you do one search, and then you do another... you can actually just get into everything,” Mindtrip chief executive Andy Moss said.

Similar tourism-focused start-ups include Vacay, while others like Navan are taking on the business travel market.

Generative AI heavyweights like Google with its Gemini chatbot, OpenAI with Operator, or Anthropic with Claude are also heavily market-ing holiday planning.

Existing mainstays of the online travel market are adapting.