How AI assistant Maya can enhance client experience and conversion for travel companies

Can you give us a short introduction to Maya?

Maya is an AI travel assistant for travel companies that is able to interact with travelers through a real-time chat on travel company websites, enhancing the way travel agencies and operators communicate with and sell to travelers. 

The purpose of Maya is to improve customer experience and efficiency by answering common questions, offering personalized recommendations, and giving travelers instant access to the information and products they are looking for on the website. Think of her as an always-online virtual travel agent, empowering travel operators to deliver exceptional service to their travelers, leading to more bookings on top.

Why did you create Maya?

We appreciate the unique experiences that niche travel operators and agencies can bring to travelers, but we noticed that almost all of the small to medium players in the industry aren’t realizing their full potential to maximize conversions. A main reason for this is that communication between the operator and traveler doesn’t go smoothly, especially in the early part of the customer journey, with many travelers finding it difficult to find what they’re looking for.

‍

We realized that AI could be the missing piece to tackle this bottle neck. By acting as the direct communication between company and consumer, an AI travel assistant like Maya can help these unique companies bring exceptional experiences to travelers, from the start of the booking process to the end of the trip itself.

‍

In short, can you share your view of the impact of AI on travel companies?

Travelers today are looking for fast responses, personalized interactions, simplicity, and convenience. Since the comeback of travel following the pandemic, travelers expect more than ever before, and this is only expected to increase as more technology becomes available to them. AI gives travel companies the ability to meet these rising expectations without compromising manual time or effort, and it’s the companies that are integrating AI accross their business right now  that will have the edge over others in 2024 and beyond.

‍

What features or abilities should travel companies look for when comparing AI chatbots?

Chatbots have been around for a while, but often resulted in a bad customer experience because the underlying AI technology wasn’t ready (if they were using AI at all). With the advent of ChatGPT and especially GPT-4 and newer models, the core technology is ready, and users are getting used to this experience. However, when it comes to travel, there are some key things to look for to have the best experience for both your clients and your company:

‍

1. Your AI chatbot should be well-integrated into your website and adjusted to your branding, to ensure the user experience is consistent and trustworthy. Look for “white label” solutions.

2. Make sure the UX/UI is adjusted to suit travel. A plain, boring chat won’t make travelers want to book; there should be visuals that inspire users to hook them into your agency and offerings.

3. As well as the UX/UI, make sure that the AI itself is also adjusted to travel. It should be able to recognise and interpret locations to give the most accurate information. For example, when mentioning a point of interest, the AI chatbot should easily be able to find trips nearby.

4. Your AI chatbot should be pro-actively engaging with customers and collecting relevant information so that you are able to learn from what your potential clients are asking and looking for.

5. If assistance from a human agent is needed, is it important that the transition to this agent is seamless to avoid losing the traveler and their potential booking. 

6. Ensure that your AI chatbot is integrated with real-time data. For example, it should be constantly updated on availability of your products so it is only recommending those which are available.

7. It should have the ability to drive conversion, by having the knowledge from your website to actually recommend bookable products.

8. Think about how much work it is to ‘train’ the chatbot. Your AI chatbot should be scalable and easy to keep up to date. This is why it’s more effective to link it to your CMS/website rather than having to upload the updated information manually.

‍

Maya offers all of the above as a white-label AI assistant that can easily be adjusted to suit your brand and needs.

‍

What is the biggest business impact an AI travel assistant could have for a travel company?

Many people immediately think of cost savings as it can indeed help to eliminate time used on low-value tasks like answering basic FAQs via email, chat, and phone. However, the bigger impact comes with driving more sales. With the ability to immediately present travelers with information and products that are customized to their wants and needs, travel companies can provide a seamless experience that converts customers and keeps them coming back.

‍

It’s worth mentioning that many of our clients were worried about the impact of losing the human touch of their agency. But since implementing Maya, they actually have even more customer service work than before. Maya makes it easier for travelers to get in touch with human agents as the threshold to get in touch is smaller. After getting instant answers on their initial questions, which creates engagement, they want to get in touch with a human agent. This then goes hand in hand with increased leads and a strong increase in bookings.

‍

Find more information about Maya on mayatravel.ai

‍

Watch a demo video here