This is especially true in complex scenarios such as family travel and senior tourism, where user needs often cannot be addressed by a single standardized SKU.
When a user says "don't make it too tiring," what they might actually mean is: less walking, fewer transfers, a conveniently located hotel, a room suitable for both elderly and children, contingency planning, and a well-paced itinerary overall.
In the past, such demands relied primarily on human travel advisors. The problem is that human-led service is expensive and difficult to scale to mass-market consumers.
AI is changing this.
Large language models can understand complex needs embedded in users' natural language, break down vague requests into concrete requirements, and then connect to backend supply chains to match products and services. For the first time, non-standard travel services that once depended heavily on human expertise may become scalable.
This is precisely what makes Fliggy’s new AI agent worth watching.
The AI agent is not simply a tool for generating travel itineraries. It is designed to embed AI throughout the travel journey.
Before booking, it can help users turn vague travel ideas into destination and itinerary suggestions. At the booking stage, it connects natural-language requests with real hotel inventory, flights, and other travel products. After booking, it continues to assist with check-in, visa checklists, travel benefits, and other in-trip needs.
At its core, this product logic overturns the traditional OTA model of "products first, users choose."
In the past, platforms presented standardized products and let users pick. In the future, the process may increasingly start with users expressing their needs, with AI then interpreting those needs, organizing resources, and matching the right products.
This is where the new AI service’s value lies: connecting AI's capability to understand user intent to an OTA's real supply chain, transaction, and service infrastructure — shifting from selling travel products to delivering a complete travel experience.
Notably, Fliggy stated explicitly at the launch event that it currently has no monetization plan for the AI service. On the question of whether AI should recommend higher-commission products or products that better fit consumer needs, Fliggy's answer was clear: the latter.
This means that, at least for now, Fliggy does not intend to turn AI into another monetizable traffic channel. Instead, it is positioning AI as a way to better understand user needs and improve service efficiency.
Over the past two decades, OTAs have built their moats on information efficiency. Going forward, what truly determines competitiveness will increasingly be service and fulfillment.
The stronger AI becomes, the easier travel planning gets — and the more critical an OTA's underlying supply chain, transaction, and fulfillment capabilities become. AI now has the potential to reshape those capabilities as well.
AI will not kill OTAs, but it will further widen the gap between platforms. Strong industry capabilities and technological innovation will increasingly determine which platforms stay competitive in the next phase.
