A look back at the “Game Changers” round table – Next Tourisme 2025
Generative AI is everywhere. And tourism, as an ultra-digitized, data-rich sector, is one of the first playgrounds for this transformation. But in the face of technological acceleration, one question stands out: how can we adopt these tools without losing sight of the essentials?
On the occasion of the “Game Changers” round table, organized as part of the Next Tourisme 2025Émilie Dumont, Managing Director of DIGITRIPS, shared our approach to artificial intelligence. Moderated by Nicolas François, Director of the Digital, Marketing and Explore Grand Est Platform at the Agence Régionale du Tourisme Grand Est, the session brought together several industry players to discuss the concrete uses and strategic challenges of AI. It was an opportunity for DIGITRIPS to present a vision that has been in place for over a year: pragmatic, customer experience-oriented, and rigorously mastered both technologically and legally.
1. Faster, more relevant assistance thanks to AI
One of the first fields of application for AI at DIGITRIPS wasafter-sales. Why was this? Because this is an area at the crossroads between operational efficiency and customer satisfaction, where AI capabilities can have an immediate impact on processing speed and therefore on the customer experience.
We’ve integrated AI models into our management of customer exchanges – the latest tools are integrated directly into WhatsApp, to detect emergency situations in natural language. These tools are capable of analyzing a request, recognizing a critical problem (such as a missing hotel reservation), and instantly transmitting all the necessary data to one of our [human!] agents, who can then intervene with maximum efficiency.
It’s not technology for technology’s sake. It’s a targeted use, designed to amplify human efficiency, not replace it.
“If a customer arrives at the hotel at 10:30pm with his children and doesn’t have a room, he doesn’t want to talk to an AI. He wants a solution. And fast.”
– Émilie Dumont, Next Tourisme 2025
2. AI cannot sacrifice data sovereignty
Another point addressed during the event prompted much discussion: RGPD compliance and the risks associated with the use of uncontrolled AI tools.
At DIGITRIPS, we made clear decisions right from the start. We use no free AI, no services connected to public servers, and all data is processed on secure infrastructures, hosted by us or by compliant partners.
“Customer data is our asset. We can’t entrust it to external services without guarantees. It’s a responsibility, and a factor of confidence for our partners. “
– Émilie Dumont
In a sector where data confidentiality is of the utmost importance – whether for identifiers, passports, means of payment or travel itineraries – this vigilance is not a luxury. It’s a competitive issue.
3. AI designed to convert, not impress
At DIGITRIPS, AI is not a gadget. It’s an operational lever designed to meet a simple requirement: improve conversion without ever degrading the user experience.
This is what guided us in the development of our AI Assistant, our intelligent search assistant currently being rolled out. Its aim: to enable a user to formulate a free-form request in natural language – “a fabulous hotel between the Eiffel Tower and the Musée d’Orsay for less than €200” – and receive relevant results, even if none are an exact match.
The system is designed with the user in mind, and is based on color-coded affinity scoring that evaluates the level of correspondence between the request and the proposed results. This avoids frustrating “no answer found” dead-ends – which slow down conversion. It’s a demanding UX/UI approach, designed to guide the user towards the best available options without blocking them.
On the back-office side, we are also banking ontransactional AI: real-time processing of complex data (rates, availability, GDS constraints) to generate bookable, reliable and personalized offers. These technical bricks, invisible to the user, are essential for transforming the intention to search into the act of buying.
Photo © guillermogo.com, via Next Tourisme 2025
