Generative AI implementations to focus on creating enhanced travel experiences for customers and improved workflows for employees

NORWALK, Conn. and SUNNYVALE, Calif., June 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading online travel agency, Priceline, and Google Cloud today announced that Priceline plans to deploy Google Cloud's generative AI technologies across both customer-facing and internal parts of its business. Customers will soon be able to engage with a new, generative AI-powered chatbot and will also begin to see more personalized offerings when searching for hotels worldwide. In addition, Priceline employees will benefit from increased and easier access to internal information, and realize productivity gains by using AI to automate some of their time-intensive coding and content generation tasks.

Priceline's initial Google Cloud generative AI deployments will begin rolling out this summer and include:

• Full-scale travel assistant chatbot to provide customers with a conversational experience in answering any and all questions about trip planning, and the ability to book a trip directly within the chat experience.
• New, AI-powered personalized hotel booking experience to help customers find preferred hotels by proximity to local attractions, restaurants and activities.
• Generative AI-powered marketing platform to enable Priceline teams to automatically generate marketing copy and imagery for customers across all company channels.
• Enhanced developer productivity, automation, and internal database mining tools to be expanded with new internal information search capabilities and software production capabilities.

As demand for travel returns to near pre-pandemic levels in a hyper-competitive industry, Priceline has taken a first-mover approach of using new technologies to differentiate itself — a philosophy grounded in the company's history and culture. Priceline has specifically tapped into Google Cloud's generative AI products to create more personalized offerings and  seamless booking experiences for its customers, as well as deploying new workplace tools that drive productivity and enable employees to focus on the most meaningful and high-impact work.

"Priceline is charting a course to transform the novelty of generative AI into lasting value for our customers and our business. We believe it's not just about having the latest technology; it's also about practically targeting innovation to the right challenges and opportunities," said Marty Brodbeck, Chief Technology Officer, Priceline. "With Google Cloud as our AI innovation partner, we're doubling down on our commitment to delivering the fastest, most seamless and informative booking experience for our customers, from personalized planning and travel inspiration to customer service."

"Generative AI holds tremendous potential for the travel industry, and Priceline is at the forefront of bringing its benefits to both customers and employees," said Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud. "Together, we're focused on being bold in our AI innovation and responsible in how this new technology will be deployed."

Using Google Cloud's Generative AI App Builder, Priceline is building a new, generative AI-powered travel assistant chatbot that will soon help customers in multiple aspects of their travel planning and booking journeys, from research to actually booking their trips, accessing customer support, and more. Customers will be able to get helpful answers to broad and nuanced questions like, "What are the best four-star hotel options in midtown Manhattan within walking distance to Central Park?" and "Can you help me extend my hotel reservation for an additional night?" By assisting customers with itinerary planning and answering specific questions, the chatbot will address a historic challenge across many industries, but most especially travel, where responding to complex customer inquiries can be costly for companies and are often frustrating experiences for the customers themselves. Priceline customers will be able to access the chatbot 24/7/365 on both desktop and mobile.

In addition, Priceline will deploy improved generative AI features in its web and mobile experiences as part of its "Connected Trip" strategy. Powered by Google Cloud's Vertex AI, and displayed via a map view on the hotel's details page, an upgraded hotel booking experience will enable customers to access current neighborhood information personalized for them. With generative AI-powered descriptions of places of interest, Priceline customers will be able to easily learn about nearby attractions, local restaurants, seasonal events and conveniences, like gas stations and grocery stores. Now the travel planner for a family of four can have an easier time finding and booking accommodations that meet their needs, whether it's a top-rated hotel close to ice-skating at Rockefeller Center during the holidays or a luxury suite that's walking distance to vegetarian restaurants.

Internally, the company will use Google Cloud's Enterprise Search in Gen App Builder to boost search capabilities across its internal information, better connecting employees to dispersed documents, databases, and intranets. Once deployed, employees will be able to more easily access the information and resources they need, from guidance on how to update bank information for direct deposit payments to personalized benefits information based on their home state. Priceline's developers will also be able to leverage Google Cloud's AI-powered collaborator, Duet AI, to support code completion, search, and summarization.

The company will also adopt Vertex AI to accelerate the content development process for marketing campaigns. With personalized content and promotions about various travel destinations being sent to customers regularly, Priceline will soon use generative AI to develop its emails that describe cities, better personalize campaigns to specific consumer groupings, and make messaging improvements in the company's push notifications to quantifiably drive bookings. The company will also use generative AI to develop new imagery and dynamic text for its online ads and Priceline-branded assets.

Priceline's selection of Google Cloud's AI technology was based on a variety of factors including overall security, practicality, speed, and ease-of-use. Google Cloud's approach to data governance and privacy policies also helps ensure Priceline retains control over its data, a key priority for the company. Furthermore, Google Cloud's responsible approach to AI also means Priceline has access to tools where it can directly tune and update its large language models to review model responses for appropriateness and accuracy.

To experience this new technology or to book your next trip, visit Priceline.

About Google Cloud
Google Cloud accelerates every organization's ability to digitally transform its business. We deliver enterprise-grade solutions that leverage Google's cutting-edge technology – all on the cleanest cloud in the industry. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to enable growth and solve their most critical business problems.

About Priceline
Priceline, part of Booking Holdings Inc. [NASDAQ: BKNG], has been a leader in online travel for twenty-five years. Priceline's proprietary deals technology pairs negotiation with innovation to analyze billions of data points to generate deep discounts for customers they can't find anywhere else. Travelers have access to millions of hotels, flights, alternative accommodations, rental cars, cruises, vacation packages and experiences from trusted brands in over 116 countries around the world, 24/7 customer service and incremental savings when becoming a Priceline VIP. By making affordable travel within reach for all, Priceline helps millions of customers each year be there for the moments that matter to them. Because where your happy place meets your happy price, that place is Priceline.

SOURCE Google Cloud