The post AI in Travel, Simplified: Agoda’s Andrew Smith Shares Insights Ahead of ITB Asia 2025 appeared first on TD (Travel Daily Media) Travel Daily Media.
Artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and other technologies that stand to change the way the world travels are among the hot topics for discussion at this year’s ITB Asia which opens on Wednesday, 15th October, in Singapore.
For this reason, we at Travel Daily Media had the opportunity to speak to Andrew Smith, senior vice-president of supply at global online travel platform Agoda, who shared some fresh insights on how these technologies are shaping the contemporary travel and tourism sectors.
Smith pointed out the ways by which Agoda has used technology to its advantage, serving as tools with which to craft a better, more efficient, and more engaging online experience for its customers.
In the beginning
As Smith recalls: “At Agoda, we approached AI by asking a very simple question: what real problems can this solve for travelers and partners today? A few concrete points guided us before rolling anything out.”
These touchpoints included the following:
- Pain points first, technology second: The company focused on areas where customers or partners felt friction: particularly finding the right hotel in seconds, resolving common booking issues, or helping a small hotel manage pricing and content without extra staff;
- Internal usage before external delivery: To get things started, Agoda initially used AI to make its own teams more productive. Among the measures involved were the shift from manual to automated reporting, the development of rapid creatives for social media, as well as faster internal escalation flows so that the platform could deliver better outcomes to travelers and partners faster;
- Empowering partners: It is pretty much a given that hotels and property managers, especially smaller independents, don’t always have marketing teams or data science resources. Smith said: “We considered how AI could level the playing field, making it easier for them to promote themselves, optimize pricing, and reach new demand;” and
- Scalability: AI can’t just be a demo feature, so to speak; hence, Agoda prioritised use cases that could work across millions of travellers and tens of thousands of partners, getting into applicable real-world scenarios as opposed to the controlled environment of a testing lab.
As Smith puts it: “The outcome is that AI is embedded into our business with practical use cases that show immediate value. It simplifies how partners work with us and makes travel planning more fun and less stressful for customers.”
Does technology matter when it comes to personalisation?
Of late, we have seen the term personalisation banded around with AI and other technologies under discussion, especially in the context of hospitality.
We have seen how major hotel chains and even some smaller groups use contemporary technologies to determine where they can improve overall customer service, offer a better guest experience, and ensure repeat bookings for the future.
Smith said of the application of AI and similar innovations in hospitality: “AI is rapidly transforming hospitality, with adoption and investment across the industry projected to grow significantly in the coming years. At Agoda, we see AI as a tool to personalize travel in two ways: creating better experiences for travelers and helping partners attract even more guests.”
He went on to point out that AI is a powerful equaliser, particularly among Agoda’s growing number of global partners.
According to Smith: “Hotels and tour operators, regardless of size, can now compete more effectively by leveraging AI-driven tools, enabling them to attract travelers at the right moment in their search journey.”
He cited how partners can generate tailored content automatically for their specific properties, highlighting search parameters like family-friendly near Disneyland for one segment and romantic Left Bank escape to another, all on top of a plethora of segmentations with little effort.
Smith added: “What’s more, AI is unlocking the potential for smart pricing and promotions, with Deloitte reporting that AI-powered dynamic pricing in hospitality can improve revenue per available room (RevPAR) by up to ten percent.”
While that’s all well and good for hospitality companies, would AI have any significant benefit to the ordinary traveller?
For Smith, the simple answer is yes.
He explains: “For travelers AI enables a more intuitive and relevant discovery process. Rather than relying solely on simple filters like price or location, at Agoda we leverage AI to surface options that align with each traveler’s unique preferences and past behaviors. For example, a traveler searching for Tokyo may see a capsule hotel for a solo trip, a boutique hotel near Shibuya shops and nightlife for a couple, or a family suite close to Ueno Zoo for parents traveling with kids.”
Even after the trip or hotel has been booked, AI can anticipate the needs of individual travellers throughout their journey.
AI can generate relevant suggestions for those on tour or contemplating any activities on their slate based on interests as well as data from previous trips.
In doing so, the overall experience becomes deeply personal for travellers, essentially enabling them to put their own stamp on every experience.
Smith opined: “Looking ahead, the real opportunity lies in translating the power of AI-driven personalization into engaging and intuitive experiences for both travelers and partners. Our focus is on ensuring that every interaction feels relevant and effortless, so travelers discover options that truly resonate with them, and partners see stronger conversion and more bookings.”
Tread carefully: technology and cultural sensitivity
Cultural sensitivity is a serious touchpoint at the moment for the global travel and tourism sectors, especially in the context of overtourism and the disrespectful way that some travellers have been behaving in various parts of the world.
In which case, how can artificial intelligence change the game when it comes to developing more culturally diverse offerings without being offensive to local sensibilities or diluting the merits of local culture?
Smith replied that, for Agoda, AI has the potential to strengthen localisation, making cultural relevance easier to achieve at scale.
But he was also quick to point out that AI is most powerful when it enhances, rather than overshadows, local traditions and experiences and when its application is guided by human judgement.
As he explains: “For travellers, AI allows us to surface options and guidance that align with local customs and etiquette. For instance, travelers booking a stay in Japan might receive suggestions for ryokans with private onsen baths, while those heading to Bali could be prompted about temple dress codes. Agoda’s multilingual AI tools localize both tone and content: a deal described as ‘awesome’ in English becomes ‘great value’ in Japanese, reflecting cultural communication norms. This approach has helped Agoda maintain over 40 active language sites, each tuned to local tone and nuance rather than literal translation.”
On the other hand AI empowers Agoda’s hotel partners to express their identity authentically to a global audience.
For example: a Thai boutique resort can automatically translate its listing into Korean or Arabic without losing the warmth of Thai hospitality.
AI can also detect cultural mismatches from guest reviews in order to prompt clearer explanations in future listings.
Across regions, AI helps partners understand demand patterns: breakfast-inclusive stays in Japan, for example; or flexibility in Australia; even family-friendly options in the Middle East.
Such insights lead to the development of more relevant and appealing offers without diluting cultural distinction.
Smith opines:”Ultimately, AI is helping travel become more respectful, as travellers engage with local cultures more thoughtfully, and partners can showcase what makes them unique to a global audience.”
Technology = streamlined service
Within the Agoda experience, AI and other technologies have been a great help for streamlining operations, particularly customer service.
According to Smith: “AI plays an important role in assisting much of our frontline support. For example, our Property Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) Bot provides travelers with instant, reliable information about hotels and amenities directly on property pages across desktop, mobile, and app. Since its launch, the bot has handled over 30,000 hotel-related questions daily, reducing uncertainty and helping travelers make quicker booking decisions. For more routine support needs, our virtual assistant handles increasing amounts of requests monthly, resolving common issues such as date changes, refund eligibility, or booking confirmations in seconds. When an issue is complex, AI routes it to the right human team with full context, so customers don’t need to repeat themselves. This has reduced response and resolution times while improving satisfaction.”
Indeed, AI has significantly improved how Agoda supports its hotel partners on a daily basis, and the creation of a virtual assistant on its YCS partner platform has made it easier to meet vital needs.
To date, Agoda is in the process of expanding its relevant investments in technology to extend coverage and offer solutions in more languages.
It should be noted at this point that one of the more complex and time-sensitive support issues is using technology to deal with is payment re-issuance.
To date, Agoda has fully automated related processes, resulting in quicker response time and improved satisfaction.
Smith recalls: “Even for internal support we used to deal with over 40different internal flows for escalation which is now replaced by a single AI workflow ultimately benefiting our partners and customers. We’re still learning and improving. Some partner or traveler situations require emotional intelligence or nuanced negotiation, areas where human empathy remains irreplaceable. Our focus now is refining AI’s ability to detect when to escalate to a human early, ensuring we balance speed with sensitivity.”
Looking to the future
For Smith, Agoda’s direction with regard to the use of AI and other technologies is clear: Agoda is building toward an even more connected trip experience powered by AI.
He said: “The next stage of travel innovation isn’t just about showing the right hotel or flight. It’s about having an assistant that understands context and timing, suggesting a room upgrade when it makes sense, helping you rebook automatically if your flight is delayed, or recommending a great local restaurant once you’ve checked in. all without you needing to ask.”
The application of such technologies will ensure that journeys feel proactive and personal for travellers anywhere.
For partners, on the other hand, it will lead to improved demand prediction, smarter merchandising, along with a host of ways with which to engage guests throughout their stays.
Smith concluded by saying: “We’re deeply focused on responsible innovation. AI can only succeed if customers and partners trust how it’s used. So, our approach is to innovate quickly but deploy carefully. In short, we’re aiming for the kind of travel experience that feels effortless end to end: intelligent, human, and connected.”
Agoda’s Andrew Smith will be leading the ITB Asia session Real World Applications of AI and Strategies for Hotels on Thursday, 16th October, at 1:30pm SGT at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore.
To know more about the upcoming discussion, click here.
The post AI in Travel, Simplified: Agoda’s Andrew Smith Shares Insights Ahead of ITB Asia 2025 appeared first on Travel Daily Media.
Source: traveldailymedia