AI is transforming the travel commerce sector - IBM and Travelport partner on new platform

IBM insists that a new artificial intelligence-based platform, developed with Travelport, will disrupt the travel industry.

Delivered via the IBM Cloud, IBM Travel Manager can track, manage, predict and analyse travel costs in one place using advanced AI, fundamentally changing how companies manage and optimise travel programmes.

It also provides cognitive computing, predictive data analytics and integrated travel and expense data to help business units control spend and enhance the end-traveler experience.

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Travelport, which had net revenues of $2.4bn in 2017, has a leadership position in airline merchandising, hotel content and distribution, car rental, mobile commerce and B2B payment solutions.

"IBM and Travelport are using the power of AI to unlock previously unavailable insights from multiple internal and external data sources," said Elizabeth Pollock, IBM Industry Client Leader for Travel & Transportation. "Travel managers can use this information to proactively drive improved supplier negotiations via real time and holistic data, enable budget holders to understand and change spending patterns, and improve travel policy compliance monitoring."

Fiona Shanley, Travelport’s Chief Customer and Marketing Officer, added: "While other solutions only provide a fragmented historical picture, IBM Travel Manager combines and normalises data from all key sources, allowing for more robust insights and benchmarking than other reporting solutions."