It's 2034. You're getting ready to head to the airport when Genie pings your personal AI travel assistant. Genie has a travel update: your flight has been cancelled due to a typhoon in Singapore. Before you can even start processing the inconvenience, Genie pings again. It has checked your diary and offers the best alternatives: either catch a layover via Dubai leaving in six hours, or delay your flight until the next day.
You choose option one. Genie confirms and advises that your Uber transfer has been rescheduled and a refund processed. (Genie has also reserved a massage for you in the lounge during your layover and pre-ordered your favourite welcome drink.) Genie also drafts an email to your first client, advising of the delay and providing suitable alternative timings within your calendar. You hit send. A major travel disruption sorted in seconds.
Now, let's rewind to 2024. This advanced level of seamless travel management may still seem like a sci-fi dream, but the age of artificial intelligence has officially arrived and is set to transform travel in the next decade. Expect to see huge developments and customer experience improvements, with personalised recommendations, paperless airports and automated expense systems on the way.
CHATBOTS AND TRAVEL PLANNERS
There are different functions for AI technologies. Generative AI refers to the group of programmes such as Chat GPT that generate high-quality text, images and other content.
The applications of this technology are far-reaching, primed to improve customer chatbot services by a quantum leap as well as star as your pocket-sized travel consultant.
This story is from the May 2024 edition of Business Traveller UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 2024 edition of Business Traveller UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
The rail thing - Why airlines and train companies are partnering to increase options for travellers on short journeys
An intercity flight connection operated by train would have been almost unthinkable in the early 1990s, but in 2024 it will increasingly be the default experience at many European hub airports. European nations have been among the world's leaders in adopting high-speed rail for short-distance trips, along with Asian countries such as Japan and China.
Adventures in Albania - From paranoid dictatorship to dream travel destination, why the Balkan nation is ready for its moment in the sun
Over the past few years, tourism has shot up stratospherically; recent figures from the European Travel Commission show it's grown 86 per cent since 2019. Its GDP per capita has also been increasing, and last year stood at US$8,800, while the average monthly salary is now around 84,000 lek (£704). Foreign direct investment is also on the rise, with countries including Switzerland, Italy, and the Netherlands targeting sectors such as energy, mining, information and real estate to a value of around US$1.5 billion in 2022, according to UNCTAD's World Investment Report. Not bad for a country which used to depend on foreign food aid.
Sushi Kanesaka at 45 Park Lane, London
Watching Kanesaka work his magic is performance in itself
Scandic Spectrum, Copenhagen
An impressive corporate hotel just minutes from Copenhagen's centre
Kimpton Clocktower, Manchester
The perfect mix of gorgeous heritage design with cool, cosmopolitan attitude
Mandarin Oriental Mayfair, London
A stunning success another calming experience in the capital
Eurostar Business Premier LONDON-PARIS
It remains the superior service for those travelling from London to Paris
Qatar Airways Boeing 777-300ER first class DOHA-HONG KONG
There is a lot to like, but my experience was far from perfect
4 HOURS IN...Vienna
You'll be spoiled for choice when it comes to the Austrian capital's museums, galleries and historic cafes
SWITCHING OFF IN...THE LOIRE VALLEY
Escape to the secluded forests of the Loire Valley for a digital detox
