On the Beach ‘first UK OTA’ to integrate ChatGPT for live holiday search

On the Beach is enabling customers to search “millions” of live holiday deals with the use of ChatGPT.

The integration of the AI chatbot allows customers to describe the holiday they are looking for in their own words, according to the OTA.

The move is part of a broader AI strategy and comes days after the company disclosed that a formal consultation process had begun as it continues to automate its processes, which “may put some roles at risk”.

While the total number of affected positions has not been disclosed, the business cited technological “streamlining” as the reason behind the proposal.

The 45-day process started on March 26.

On the Beach claims to be the first UK OTA to integrate with ChatGPT Apps, responding to the growing trend of holidaymakers using LLMs [Large Language Models] to power their holiday research.

Group product manager Gemma Lapington said: “Holiday search doesn’t always start with a destination in mind, or a set of filters - it’s more often an idea, a bit of inspiration, or even a spontaneous mid-week search when the weather at home is terrible!

“Now that we’re live inside ChatGPT, customers can search how they naturally think about holidays, whether that’s ‘somewhere I can chase the sun next week’ or ‘a lively hotel where I don’t need a cab to get to bars and restaurants’ and receive real-time package holidays that match that they can click through and book.

“It takes the hard work out of shortlisting the right holiday, removing the need for rigid filters or multiple tabs.

“Customers simply describe what they want and can refine it as they go by asking follow-up questions, conversationally. We then provide live, bookable deals from millions of available holiday combinations.”