When Agoda opened a new office in the heart of Bangkok, it was with the intention of expanding its technology hub in the country.
That particular decision was timely: in recent months, Agoda and its competitors have been leveraging their use of large language models (LLMs) to improve service delivery to their clients throughout the world.
This certainly enables these platforms to offer clients more personalised products, giving them exactly what they want based on their individual preferences in a timely fashion.
Travel Daily Media’s Gary Marshall recently caught up with Agoda’s chief commercial officer Damien Pfirsch who expressed his enthusiasm over the big move to the Thai capital and how the OTA stands to serve its clients better.
A whole lot going on
According to Pfirsch: “There is a lot happening at Agoda today, I think one of the things we are really working on is how to best leverage the new large language model to offer better services and better experiences to our customers.”
Pfirsch explained that the OTA seeks to do this by focusing on the back end rather than the front, enabling those planning a holiday to make better choices whenever they choose everything from flights and accommodations to in-destination experiences.
He added: “We want to really make sure that they can always find the best possible price. At the end of the day Agoda, is all about offering the best possible prices to our customers, making it easier and cheaper to plan their holiday.”
By doing so, Agoda takes away the tedious guesswork and gruntwork most would-b-travellers shy away from, taking out the stress and friction to ensure a truly enjoyable trip.
Tech paves the way.
Of late, over 60 percent of those doing research for trips or booking those trips online are using generative AI platforms like ChatGPT and Google Gemini to do more efficient and effective searches.
This has more or less changed the game for many travellers, and, for companies like Agoda, it serves as a welcome challenge.
Pfirsch said: “Working closely with destination management companies gives us the ability to inspire people to ask relevant questions [on those platforms]. The willingness to explore a certain destination will come from what people see; then they will ask questions to refine their travel plans.”
Moving forward, Pfirsch added that Agoda’s business to business (B2B) platform is partnering with a diverse array of companies ranging from airlines, to banks and financial institutions, and even insurance companies as well as other players in the travel and tourism sector.
He said: “We could help them enhance their proposition to their customers through our travel solution. It could be a supply element, it could be a technology element, but what we want to do is help them serve their customers better by embracing and encompassing travel into their overall proposition.”
Interview: Gary Marshall
