Booking Holdings has launched Lola, an AI-powered personal assistant that aims to simplify the process of planning and booking hotels, restaurants, event tickets, and transfers all within a single chat.
Booking Holdings has launched Lola, an AI-powered personal assistant that aims to simplify the process of planning and booking hotels, restaurants, event tickets, and transfers all within a single chat.
The company's press release notes that AI is capable of not only providing recommendations, but also making direct bookings in real time. Unlike conventional chatbots, Lola accompanies the user from the idea of "where to go" to the final payment. The developers emphasize that the search algorithms are objective and do not depend on sponsorship payments or advertising placements.
The startup is led by serial IT entrepreneurs Steve Gaffner and Paul English, co-founders of popular search engine KAYAK, which is now part of Booking Holdings. Thanks to this collaboration, Lola has direct integration with all of the holding’s brands, as well as partnerships with other services, such as ResX, BLADE, Aero, SeatGeek, GetYourGuide, Nuitee, and Ten Group. This gives the assistant access to a database of over 200,000 activities and excursions around the world.
"We created Lola to give everyone the benefits of good connections. The next generation of AI assistants must do more than just answer questions. They must understand what you are looking for, help you make a decision, and implement it," said project co-founder Steve Gafner.
Lola's basic search and personalized recommendations are free. At the same time, the company has offered paid subscriptions: the Plus plan costs $5 per month, and the VIP plan costs $25 per month with an annual subscription. Subscribers receive discounts of up to 15% on four- and five-star hotels, special rates on BLADE helicopter transfers ($150), discounts of $300 to $400 on Aero flights, priority table reservations through OpenTable and ResX, and personal concierge services from Ten Group.
With its investment in Lola, Booking Holdings hopes to consolidate its position in the AI-commerce market, as the emergence of Meta Muse has previously caused stock prices of traditional booking services to fluctuate due to fears of direct competition. At the same time, analysts warn against full automation without human control: autonomous assistants are still prone to errors, such as confusion between cities with the same name in different countries or prematurely assigning the status “confirmed” to requests that are still under consideration.
