Agoda's AI assistant can plan and book your trip in a single conversation

What's new

Travel site Agoda has rolled out an AI assistant to users in 21 markets. It began as a limited test in September. Agoda itself calls the assistant its first entirely new booking experience in more than 20 years.

According to IT Brief, the markets are in the Asia-Pacific region, North America and the Middle East. They include Japan, India, Australia, the US, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore. According to Agoda and IT Brief, the assistant is available in Agoda's mobile app. According to company information in IT Brief, Agoda's business supports 39 languages, but it has not been disclosed how many languages the assistant itself supports.

What's smart about it

The idea is to bring all trip planning together in one place. You can plan the trip, compare neighborhoods and see what's available. Booking can be completed within the conversation itself, without switching apps. The assistant also remembers your preferences and the context of the trip as you go, so you don't have to start over.

Agoda CEO Omri Morgenshtern points to the problem it is meant to solve: "Travel planning is fragmented today. People jump between apps, tabs, messages and spreadsheets to organize a single trip."

According to Agoda, the conversation layer runs on OpenAI models. For restaurants and attractions, the assistant uses Google's Gemini with Google Maps Grounding, which provides ratings, photos, opening hours and location. According to IT Brief, it can also search the web. According to Agoda, it draws on Agoda's inventory of more than 6 million lodging properties, over 130,000 flight routes and over 300,000 activities.

Cheaper or better?

The price has not been disclosed, and the sources make no comparison with competitors. It is therefore unclear whether the assistant is cheaper than booking the usual way.

Agoda has its own figures from the early beta: Users of the assistant more often book a connected trip that spans more than one category, for example hotel, flights, attraction tickets and tours. This is Agoda's own data, and no figures have been provided for how large the difference is or how many people have used it.

Who it's good for

The assistant is aimed at people who want their whole trip in one place: hotel, flights and experiences in a single conversation. It is especially useful if you don't know which neighborhood to stay in and want to compare options and get suggestions for restaurants and attractions along the way.

For Danish readers, there is an important caveat: The sources do not say whether the assistant is available in Denmark or the EU. The markets mentioned are all outside Europe. It is therefore impossible to say when Danes will be able to try it.