ITB ASIA NEWS 2023 - DAY 1 EDITION

I EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW I

I EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW I THROUGH TEXT, OUR AI CHATBOT RESOLVED 160 MILLION TEXT-BOT INQUIRIES LAST YEAR James Liang Co-founder and Executive Chairman of the Board, Trip.com Group “Travellers seek efficient and personalised solutions to plan their trips in today's fast-paced world.” Trip.com Group's Co-founder and Executive Chairman of the Board is giving a keynote address this morning at ITB Asia on "How AI is Powering Travel" ITB Asia News caught up with James Liang ahead of the show in an exclusive interview to discuss how Trip.com Group is harnessing AI and technology to provide travellers with an enhanced experience. Could you provide some realworld examples or case studies showcasing how AI technology has directly impacted the efficiency and costeffectiveness of travel services provided by Trip.com Group? The current AI technology can help streamline travel planning, offering personalised recommendations, comprehensive travel plans, and a consolidated booking service. In addition to launching TripGen which then became TripGenie this year, we've implemented AIdriven data filtering, handling a vast amount of high-quality nonstructural travel data, which could include user reviews and posts. With advanced AI technology, we go beyond providing products and services to inspire those who may not know where to start. Our personalised understanding of each user means we look at a user’s trends and preferences. Based on this information, we curate relevant tourist destinations, preferred hotel options, best flight deals, and local tourist activities. We have also launched an array of AI-powered tools, such as our AI-empowered curated lists: "Trip. Trends", "Trip.Best", and "Trip. Deals". By presenting algorithmic curated lists of options based on user preferences and real-time data, users can quickly compare and choose from a selection of highly relevant travel products. The ability to include real-time information also helps users make cost-effective decisions by accessing the most up-to-date and competitive travel options. How are some specific ways in which AI is improving customer service within the travel sector, and how is Trip.com Group embracing this transformation? Customers are always our first priority at Trip.com Group. Over the years, we have leveraged AI technology to resolve customer requests more efficiently and precisely. AI customer service finds its primary application in automated classification and responses via calls, online chat and emails. At the heart of this technology is machine learning and natural language processing algorithms that swiftly and accurately identify and categorise customer queries and needs. Nowadays, our human employees only need to handle the more complex incidents. Most of the typical questions are taken care of by AI chatbot, which includes both text and voice. Through text, our AI chatbot resolved 160 million text-bot inquiries last year, achieving a self-service rate of 75% of our global customer service inquiries. Through voice, our AI chatbox resolved 40 million phone consultations last year, achieving a 50% self-service rate. This means many customers no longer have to endure long phone queues or wait for email replies; they can instantly access relevant answers and solutions STAND T 090 KEYNOTE How AI is Powering Travel Today - 9:15-9:30 a.m. L3, Begonia Ballroom, 3001A TRIP.COM GROUP'S AI TRAVEL ASSISTANT Trip.com Group launched TripGen, their first AI travel assistant, in February of this year. In July, they enhanced its features, and TripGen became TripGenie, a more intuitive travel planning assistant. According to James Liang, the advanced AI technology built into TripGenie allows Trip.com Group to offer consumers improved user engagement; provide highly relevant and accurate recommendations; elevate travel and itinerary planning; provide quick conversational answers; and make the booking process more efficient. When asked what set TripGenie apart from other solutions on the market, James Liang emphasised the assistant's use of human feedback: "What makes TripGenie exceptional is its reliance on our extensive proprietary database from Trip.com Group and its effective utilisation of human feedback. Our algorithm processes a vast 20 billion travel-related data points, supported by a team of in-house experts worldwide who curate and verify travel content, drawing on their deep knowledge of local cultures and attractions." In the future, James Liang said that Trip.com Group would continue to invest in TripGenie, notably developing itinerary sharing and integrating existing bookings. The former will allow travellers to share itineraries through social media enabling "collaborative real-time editing by multiple individuals". The latter will aim to help travellers "refine and optimise" their itinerary for an improved experience 8 ITB ASIA NEWS • WEDNESDAY 25 OCTOBER 2023 itb-asia-news.com

I EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW I “Travellers are willing to pay a premium for brands to deliver a personal experience” ITB Asia news spoke with Hermione Joye, Sector Lead, Travel and Vertical Search APAC, Google, ahead of her keynote at ITB Asia 2023 Hermione Joye looks at travel trends in APAC, how traveller behaviour has shifted and the influence of digital technology and artificial intelligence on the market today. How has traveller behaviour changed in the way they plan and book their trips today and what are the main priorities for APAC travellers? Without a doubt, the region has seen an acceleration towards all things digital in the last few years and this digital adoption looks set to continue, especially since APAC has a large Gen MZ population and one of the highest mobile app penetrations in the world. While cost and currency fluctuations are top of mind for travellers according to our latest travel research, they are willing to pay a premium for brands to deliver a personal experience. For example, 73% of respondents are willing to pay a premium for accommodation platforms that delivered positively, and 80% are willing to pay a premium for airline platforms that delivered positively. This means travellers are more discerning about their choices and are willing to shed those extra few dollars if they perceive they’ll get a highly personalised and premium experience. While travellers are feeling the pinch of economic pressures, it’s not that they aren’t willing to travel - they just expect to get the most out of their buck. How are travel companies harnessing digital strategies to adapt to these priorities? A digitally savvy region means consumer journeys are much more fragmented, spanning a broader spectrum of touchpoints - search, video, social media and many more. Our research found the average post- A DIGITALLY SAVVY REGION MEANS CONSUMER JOURNEYS ARE MUCH MORE FRAGMENTED, SPANNING A BROADER SPECTRUM OF TOUCHPOINTS Covid consumer journey comprises 140+ touchpoints when researching brands they have not purchased before! This is a staggering figure but presents a huge opportunity for brands to reach out to the consumer and rise to the top of the consideration set. And artificial intelligence can play a role in helping brands drive marketing efficiencies. For example, Scoot, a low-cost airline under the Singapore Airlines group, saw at least 30% incremental conversions using the AI-powered Performance Max tool compared to non-Performance Max campaigns. By pairing Performance Max with its Search campaigns to analyse traveller intents and preferences, Scoot was able to identify new search queries that were not covered by its existing keywords, and new segments of customers it could engage. Doing so allowed Scoot to deliver ad creatives with information relevant to people’s travel intent. How is APAC faring as a tourist destination? What do the forecasts for the future look like? APAC is and remains a popular tourist destination. Among the fastestgrowing destination countries in 2023 by search demand, we have 3 APAC countries in the top 10 list - Japan and China occupy the top 2 spots while the Philippines comes in at 10th. We cannot talk about travel in APAC without mentioning Japan - search interest for the land of the rising sun grew almost 80% in 2023 compared to 2019, and 30% year-on-year. Its popularity among APAC travellers is undisputed - when we looked at searches on Google Flights for yearend holidays across APAC, Japan comes out on top in 9 of the 12 APAC markets KEYNOTE The Evolution of Travel in the New Era: Embracing Change and Opportunities Today - 9:00-9:15 a.m. L3, Begonia Ballroom, 3001A THE TRAVEL MARKET TODAY For Hermione Joye, the two words that best describe the travel market today are "stability" and "opportunity". Stability might seem like a surprising choice after the many changes and ups and downs of the industry in the last few years due to Covid measures such as border closures, vaccinations and travel restrictions. But we are now entering a period of stability in which travellers can, according to Ms Joye, "plan and forecast their trips more than 3 months out." Travel demand as measured by search interest is now surpassing 2019 levels and remaining high as of July 2023. APAC’s travel resurgence is surpassing that of other regions says Ms Joye, with APAC’s demand for international travel at 85% more than 2019 levels, and demand for domestic travel at 52% above 2019 levels. And opportunity? For Hermione Joye, stability and opportunity go hand in hand: "Stability brings about opportunity, which makes travel a bright spot for the region whether that’s international travel or intraregion travel" ITB ASIA NEWS • WEDNESDAY 25 OCTOBER 2023 9