Customer Booking Habits and Attitudes Towards AI-Powered Features in Online Travel Agencies

Abstract

The use of modern technologies, especially AI enabled features, has led to significant changes in the hospitality and tourism industry, both for travellers and service providers. Thanks to the rapid development of various AI features, the Internet of Things and other technologies, travellers can enjoy personalised and tailored booking and travel experiences. Online travel agencies (OTAs) are websites or mobile applications where users can book a variety of travel-related services such as accommodation, cruises, airline tickets, car hire and many other travel items. The focus of this study is on the impact of the introduction of AI technology in OTAs (online travel agencies) on travellers. It represents the realisation of the fourth phase of the research, which focuses on the analysis of travellers' habits and key demographic characteristics, as well as significant differences between genders and the travelling' frequency of the respondents. For this purpose, an originally developed questionnaire with specific demographic questions, OTA booking habits and 12 questions on different AI features in OTAs was used. One-way ANOVA (for frequency of travel) and a two-sample t-test (for gender) were used for this study. The results obtained showed significant differences in responses for some questions, both for gender and travel frequency, and are presented in detail in the Results and Discussion section