Payments specialist WEX and technology provider AI.io have partnered to launch a voice-activated travel booking service, known as Halo Travel.
The pair claim Halo Travel, which is powered by Priceline Partner Network for inventory, is the first application that allows the booking of hotels and flights through voice.
The application does not depend on a particular device and is accessed via Google Assistant by saying “Hey Google, talk to Halo Travel.”
While AI.io provides the voice technology, WEX handles the payment from Halo Travel to the Priceline Partner Network.
Comparisons will no doubt be drawn with Google Assistant’s latest updates enabling hotel booking via the Book on Google integration, with providers including Choice Hotels, AccorHotels, InterContinental Hotels Group and Priceline named as initial partners.
A spokesperson for Halo Travel says the main differences are that it has much wider inventory of products, including the booking of flights, which Google Assistant does not yet offer.
Terence Mills, CEO of AI.io, says the application has been developed and tested over the past year. The idea is for the AI to learn travel habits to provide a more personalized experience.
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Both WEX and AI.io believe travel booking is going towards seamless, personalized experiences driven by AI.
The platform was tested at the CES 2019 event held in Las Vegas last week.
A number of industry reports suggest travelers are shifting in the direction of wanting to use voice to organize trips.
According to Phocuswright’s The State of Voice in Travel report, more than half of travelers are happy to request general information via a voice-powered digital assistant, but that drops to between 20% and 33% for those actively searching and booking travel products via voice.
In addition, a WEX travel trends report released with MasterCard reveals 36% of Generation Z and 32% of millennial travelers in the United States believe chatbots or digital assistants would make for a smoother booking experience.