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Using artificial intelligence to prepare for trips, from searching for destinations and restaurants to planning detailed itineraries, is no longer unfamiliar. Now, AI is evolving beyond simply recommending itineraries to handling flight and hotel bookings and payments.

Reporter Hong Yeongjae has the story.

[Reporter]

Planning trips before leaving or getting help from AI during travel has become common nowadays.

[Kang Ju-hyun / Office Worker: "If you ask it to tell you places commonly visited for honeymoons, it tells you, and it has become so much more convenient that it is a bit hard to remember times before AI..."]

When ChatGPT is asked to recommend hotels in New York, it asks for the stay schedule and budget, and then has users choose what matters most for this trip, such as tourist routes and safety.

Not only OpenAI but also Google has recently been strengthening AI features that understand travelers' preferences and conditions through such conversations.

The size of the tourism industry utilizing AI is projected to grow by more than 26% annually through 2030.

Domestic companies are also introducing travel-related services utilizing AI.

When dates and destinations are set, AI creates customized itineraries reflecting weather, time zones, and even tourist site closing days.

[Oh Hyuk / CEO of Les Vacances: "For example, it becomes evening (during a trip). Then that museum schedule is over. Then that is not displayed (in the AI itinerary). Data on what has changed every week, whether business hours have changed, is filtered weekly and automatically updated."]

While AI is playing the role of a travel secretary well, big tech and the travel industry share the concern that it is not easy to connect it to actual bookings and payments.

In a recent survey, only 13% of respondents said they would use AI for bookings even if they received AI help for information search.

This is because anxieties about AI still remain regarding the accuracy of price and booking information, and where responsibility lies in case of cancellations or refunds.

Google recently launched a service allowing direct payments within the AI search screen, and Meta also released a feature where AI performs travel booking and payment, making how to lower the wall of distrust the key to the growth of the AI travel industry.

(Video Editing: Yoon Tae-ho, VJ: Jeong Han-wook)