Driverless pods as mobile hotel rooms, anyone?: EaseMyTrip’s Prashant Pitti on futuristic travel trends and AI

Generative AI (artificial intelligence) can both help and hinder the growth of companies in the travel space, says Prashant Pitti, co-founder of EaseMyTrip. Pitti shares that almost 90 percent of all holiday packages are still made either via a phone call or an offline travel agent. Generative AI or ChatGPT and other tools, can work wonderfully to create very customized itinerary on the basis of what people need. "There is a lot of room for improvement by using ChatGPT as a technology to create better itineraries for people. However, in terms of hindrance, we are in an industry where people travel to have experiences and share them on social media. With generative AI, there have been cases where people can create images and selfies of themselves in places like Paris without actually traveling there," he states.

Pitti quickly adds that in the long run, people will still want to experience travel firsthand. However, in the interim, he expects social media to be flooded with deep fake travel pictures and videos of people who are not actually traveling.

He further points out that due to COVID-19, people have a heightened sense of privacy, which is why bookings for homestays, four-star hotels, and business class flights have more than doubled compared to pre-pandemic times. He also mentions a futuristic travel trend of "driverless pods" that act as mobile hotel rooms, transporting people to their destinations.

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"From 10 years from now, I can totally see driverless pods becoming popular. These pods, which function as your hotel room, would pick you up at the airport, and as you're in your room, they would take you from, let's say, Delhi to Chandigarh. Hence, you may even skip staying overnight in a five-star hotel because your car itself is your room, taking you to your destination," he explains.

Pitti believes that influencer marketing has greatly benefited the travel industry, especially after the pandemic. However, he notes that the return on investment from this channel is subjective and requires careful selection of credible influencers who can effectively represent the brand.

Regarding social media presence as an entrepreneur and its impact on the company's brand value, Pitti states, "Having an identity and a voice in your industry definitely helps your business. People start recognizing your company. However, for well-established startups, I believe their work speaks more than what their founders say for themselves."

Easy Trip Planners Ltd, which operates EaseMyTrip, recently made headlines for signing a general sales agreement with SpiceJet to sell and promote the airline's tickets and services in India. The agreement will begin on August 1, 2023, and aims to penetrate deeper into the highly competitive aviation market in India.

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