MakeMyTrip experimenting with ChatGPT to boost customer experiences

NEW DELHI: Global travel service provider MakeMyTrip is experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT to see if its integration can make customer experiences and their vacation planning better on the platform, the company has said.

Sanjay Mohan, Group CTO at MakeMyTrip (MMT), told IANS that the ChatGPT integration is at a very early stage and the company will decide to use it only if satisfied with results.

"Our teams are currently testing ChatGPT for helping customers solve their travel queries and suggest add-on services as they plan holidays. We are working on to see if the new tool can aid our existing AI-powered chatbots," Mohan said.

With the use of its in-house AI-powered chatbots, customers on MMT already get suggestions and alerts of rail/flight bookings, baggage details, and car/bus/hotel bookings.

According to Mohan, ChatGPT can revolutionise the hospitality sector that has finally come out from the shadow of the three-year long pandemic.

"Our goal is to make MMT platform more seamless, while keeping it simple and user-friendly with smooth navigation. ChatGPT can surely help," he added.

"We want to make MakeMyTrip a one-stop-shop for all the services that a traveller may need," Mohan told IANS.

The online travel aggregator recently reported a growth of 64.4 per cent on gross bookings (year-on-year) that reached $1.75 billion -- its highest-ever -- for the company's fiscal third quarter that ended on December 31.

The company earned adjusted operating profit of $19.7 million in Q3 FY23, as compared to $13.2 million in Q3 FY22, over the revenue of $170.5 million (versus $115 million in 3Q22).

Profit for the period was $0.2 million as compared to a loss of $9 million during the same quarter last year.

Demand for leisure travel and tourism improved on the back of peak seasonality, according to the company.