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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Travel
Milo Boyd

EasyJet holidays looking at new AI tech to help Brits plan their holidays

EasyJet Holidays is looking to "digitally curate" trips away for customers using tailored artificial intelligence.

Speaking to the Mirror, CEO Garry Wilson says it's an "extraordinarily important" move for the company, although he stressed that the idea was to assist rather than replace people.

The idea would be that you could 'freehand' your requests - ie specify what you would look for in a holiday - and then the AI could guide through a series of different options.

The CEO and ABTA board director said that easyJet Holidays was launched two years ago with a "huge amount of automation already".

"From a digital tech point of view it is extraordinarily important to us, and it (the website) will utilise AI as we start to build on that," he explained.

Garry said developing the AI tool was "extraordinarily important" to the company (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

"I think the entire industry will build on this. Customers are time poor and they don't need to do all their own research. They want it digitally curated."

As well as likely providing a platform for customers to write in searches in "freehand" - possibly similar to ChatGPT - the website will offer tailored packages to previous shoppers, similar to Amazon's "if you liked this, you might like...."

When asked about possible timelines, Garry said the "ultimate plan is probably not out of reach, but some years (away)".

He also spoke about how the company had not originally intended to use travel agents to sell its holidays, having been set up to be digital-first.

After deciding to "give [human travel agents] a go", the firm was "pleasantly surprised" by how much demand there has been for face-to-face sales.

"I think there is big job AI can do to aid travel agents there," Garry said, noting how important a financial and emotional decision booking a holiday was for customers. "I don't foresee AI would replace that. I can't see why it would."

EasyJet Holidays has seen a significant surge in bookings post-lockdowns, with capacity increasing 300% from the winter of 2021/22 to the winter of 2022/23.

Stella Gardens Resort & Spa in Egypt, where easyJet sold cheap cost-of-living packages over the winter (easyJet Holidays)

Like a number of other travel firms, the cost-of-living crisis and rising inflation has not translated to a dip in sales for easyJet holidays,

"For this summer we've seen strong demand," Garry continued. "We wondered how the cost of living would play out, we've found that pattern of strong bookings has come in. We expect to be about 50% up (compared to last year.)

"Customers say 'the one thing we won't sacrifice is our holiday'."

A big hit this year for the company has been city breaks, with customers opting for experience trips like seeing the Northern Lights in Reykjavík.

Egypt is also particularly popular and cheap at the moment.

This is partly due to the relative weakness of the country's currency, but also the fact that 40% of its visitors were from Ukraine and Russia - with their absence leading to a slump in demand and then price for hotels.

"The value for money in Egypt is quite incredible," Garry said.

"One of the advantages the Red Sea has is it didn't exist as a mainstream destination (until recently), you'll go there and find huge hotels with large bedrooms and waterparks. The price the customer pays for that is great value."

Recently easyJet Holidays sold a month long package to a resort in Egypt which cost just £650 - less than how much living in the UK costs for a month, the company claimed.

The firm sold out of the deal "very quickly", and is now considering other similar promotions it can offer in the future.

One area it is looking at branching out into is Albania, which has become an increasingly popular destination with those looking for some sun, sea and sand.

Garry said the company was looking at holidays in Albania (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

"We don't offer holidays to Albania at the moment, but we are going down in the spring to look at," Garry said.

"A lot of the hotel chains are looking there. I think it is somewhere that will become quite interesting for holiday makers."

Also like other firms, easyJet Holidays is having to raise the price of its deals.

"To a lot of the big destinations, we have seen the prices go up, (by about) 10 to 15%," Garry said.

When it comes to the spring and summer months ahead, the CEO is not expecting the same level of disruption which hit UK airports and holiday makers last year.

The company was "absolutely not expecting chaos" and that "resilience has been built up" since last July.

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