For Travel Brands, AI Isn't The Back-End - It's The New Front Door

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

For years, travel planning has revolved around one habit: search. We typed queries into Google, clicked through dozens of tabs, hopped from blog posts to review sites, then back to booking engines. It was exhausting, but it was all we had.

Now, the game is changing.

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Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT are beginning to take the front seat in how people explore and plan their travels. These tools don't just return search results - they offer answers. They don't just list options - they build itineraries, compare destinations, surface insights, and explain travel rules in plain language. And they do it in seconds.

For the modern traveler, especially younger generations, AI is fast becoming the go-to starting point. Gen Z and Millennials are more likely to“ask” an LLM for a two-week Europe itinerary or the visa requirements for Japan than wade through multiple travel sites. They're not looking for links - they want solutions.

Why is this shift happening? Because LLMs deliver what traditional search engines can't: clarity in chaos. They condense the internet into coherent answers. They learn from the user's tone and intent. They generate suggestions tailored to style, budget, and curiosity. Increasingly, they can also incorporate visuals, maps, and booking links in one smooth experience. McKinsey research shows AI agents reduce planning friction and simplify decision flows.

From a travel industry perspective, this is both a disruption and an opportunity.

The disruption is clear. If the LLM becomes the interface, traditional search engine traffic - the lifeblood of many travel sites - could dry up. Meta-studies estimate a 37% median drop in organic CTR-and as much as 40% on average-due to AI Overviews (formerly known as Search Generative Experience (SGE)). Ad-driven models will feel the pinch. SEO as a strategy will be less about ranking and more about feeding into AI knowledge bases.

But the opportunity is far more exciting. Travel brands that embrace AI not just as a back-end enabler but as a front-end interface will lead the next wave.

We have to stop thinking of AI as something hidden in our analytics or chatbots. The real win is to make AI the face of the experience. Imagine a travel site that opens with a simple question:“Where do you want to go, and what kind of trip do you need?” From that conversation, an AI assistant builds your itinerary, handles your bookings, gives visa guidance, suggests upgrades, and stays with you until you land back home. For context: According to the website Hotel News, Booking's AI Trip Planner saw measurable increases in user time-on-site and speed of bookings.

To make this happen, travel companies need to invest in:

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Training custom LLMs on proprietary data - including pricing, visa requirements, booking patterns, and customer service history.

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Creating conversational user experiences that replace clunky forms and filters with fluid dialogue.

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Connecting real-time APIs to flight, hotel, and visa systems to ensure the AI's recommendations are bookable and reliable.

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Establishing trust by aligning the AI's responses with the brand's tone, voice, and values.

At musafir, we see this as the next frontier. We're already exploring how to blend our expertise in visa processing, corporate travel, and dynamic packaging with LLM interfaces that feel less like a website and more like a smart travel advisor.

Still, caution is warranted. LLMs are powerful, but not flawless. They hallucinate. They sometimes give outdated advice. In travel, even small errors can have big consequences. As published by analytics platform Tredence, McKinsey and Booking teams warn that AI can“feel like training a mighty dragon”-powerful but unpredictable. That's why I believe the future isn't AI-only - it's AI + human. A hybrid model where the AI does the heavy lifting, and experienced agents step in where nuance and trust matter most.

Ultimately, this shift isn't about technology. It's about expectation. Travelers are no longer content to browse; they want to converse. They don't want information; they want insight. And they don't want complexity; they want clarity.

The travel industry must meet that demand head-on. Because if your customer's first question goes to an LLM instead of your site, and you're not part of that conversation - you've already lost.

We're standing at a crossroads where search gives way to dialogue, where content gives way to conversation, and where brands that adapt will thrive - not in search results, but in trust, loyalty, and lifetime value.

It's time to build the copilots that will guide the future of travel.

The writer is CEO & Co-founder, musafir

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