The Booking Assistant utilizes natural language processing to address common customer inquiries. These include questions about payments, transportation, arrival/departure times, date changes, cancellations, parking, extra beds, pet policies, Wi-Fi availability, and various greetings. By processing a high volume of questions, the AI continuously learns and improves. Booking.com is refining the system to handle over 90 specific subtopics efficiently.
Unlike chatbots designed solely for sales or limited tasks, the Booking Assistant focuses on answering frequently asked questions. It currently resolves 30% of customer inquiries automatically in under five minutes. For more complex issues, the chatbot seamlessly integrates support from Booking.com’s customer service team or the property itself, ensuring a quick resolution. Importantly, the source of the information is always clearly identified for transparency.
Booking.com’s Global Director of Customer Service, James Waters, emphasizes that AI is meant to enhance, not replace, human interaction. The goal is to create a more personalized and seamless travel experience. In a complex and emotional industry like travel, Booking.com strives to balance human touch and efficient automation at every stage of the customer journey.
